Cheetah Reintroduction in India: Project Cheetah and Kuno (UPSC Environment)

India declared the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) extinct in 1952, five years after independence. The last three cheetahs in the wild were shot in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh by the Maharaja of Surguja in 1947. The species that had once roamed a vast belt from Rajasthan to Andhra Pradesh — the only big cat to go extinct in India in historical times — was gone.

Seven decades later, in September 2022, eight African cheetahs from Namibia were flown into Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh under Project Cheetah — the world's first intercontinental translocation of a large carnivore. A second batch of 12 arrived from South Africa in February 2023. What followed has been a story of successful births, tragic mortalities, hard lessons and a quiet policy shift on how India thinks about wildlife recovery. As of May 2026, India’s cheetah population stands at 57 — 54 at Kuno and 3 at the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh — with 49 cubs born on Indian soil across 11 litters since 2023 and 37 surviving.

Why Cheetahs Disappeared

Colonial and Princely Hunting

Cheetahs were trapped live for royal hunting parties — the Mughals, Rajput and Maratha princes, and later British officers used them as coursing animals to chase blackbuck and chinkara. Thousands of adults were removed from the wild. Because cheetahs rarely breed in captivity (there is just one recorded captive litter in Mughal India), trapping directly depleted wild populations.

Bounty killing under British rule added pressure. Between 1870 and 1925, cheetahs were shot as "vermin" across central India.

Habitat Loss

Grassland and scrub forest — the cheetah's preferred habitat — shrank rapidly under agricultural expansion. The species needs open country; India was fragmenting it faster than any other large mammal's home.

Prey Base Collapse

Blackbuck and chinkara, the cheetah's main prey, were heavily hunted. By the 1940s, their numbers had fallen to a fraction of the 19th-century estimates.

The Two Revival Paths

Path 1 — Cloning Asiatic Cheetahs (failed)

In the early 2000s, scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad proposed cloning Asiatic cheetahs from Iranian stock. The plan: collect tissue from Iran's small remaining population (estimated at fewer than 50), develop living cell lines, and use somatic cell nuclear transfer to create Indian cheetahs.

Iran refused. Tehran reportedly demanded an Asiatic lion in exchange; India was unwilling to risk its only lion population at Gir. Without Iranian cooperation, the cloning route died.

Path 2 — Introducing African Cheetahs

The alternative was to bring African cheetahs (A. j. jubatus) — the parent subspecies with a healthy global population. Genetic divergence from the Asiatic subspecies is modest; ecological role is similar. After years of feasibility studies by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, the Supreme Court in January 2020 cleared experimental introduction.

Key candidate sites shortlisted:

• Kuno-Palpur National Park (Madhya Pradesh) — eventually chosen.
• Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh).
• Velavadar National Park (Gujarat).
• Shahgarh Bulge (Rajasthan).

Project Cheetah Timeline

Issues With Reintroduction

Clash With Asiatic Lion Conservation

Kuno was originally earmarked for translocation of Asiatic lions from Gir, where the population (~700 as of 2020) is dangerously concentrated. A disease outbreak at Gir could wipe out the species. The Supreme Court had directed in 2013 that lions be moved to Kuno. Gujarat resisted — citing emotional and political reasons — and the process stalled. The cheetah introduction effectively pushed lion translocation to the back burner.

Habitat and Prey Base

Kuno's prey density is lower than optimal for cheetahs. The park can support roughly 20–25 cheetahs; African cheetahs live at densities 10x higher in the Serengeti than Indian grasslands can sustain.

Mortality

Multiple adult and cub deaths occurred in 2023 due to renal infections, radio-collar wounds, and fights. Project managers revised protocols — collar design, pre-release monitoring and veterinary response.

Genetic Viability

A small founder population carries inbreeding risks. Continued supplementation from African populations is planned.

Systemic Wildlife Issues Unresolved

The cheetah project does not address the deeper problems:

• Human–wildlife conflict.
• Loss of grasslands and scrub forests nationally.
• Prey base decline.
• Illegal wildlife trafficking.
• Climate change.
• Growing human populations competing for land.

Without grassland restoration at a national scale, any reintroduction is effectively an intensive-care project in a few enclosures.

Why Reintroduction Still Matters

• Ecological role: cheetahs are apex grassland predators. Their absence for 75 years left a functional gap.
• Grassland conservation lever: cheetah habitat needs protect grassland and scrub ecosystems that have been systematically ignored in India's forest-focused conservation.
• Scientific learning: the first intercontinental big-cat translocation generates valuable science for global conservation.
• Symbolic value: recovers a species that colonial and princely India drove out.

Way Forward

• Second site operationalisation: Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (MP) and Kuno–Shivpuri landscape must be prepared as cheetah corridors.
• National grassland policy: grasslands, classified as "wasteland" in revenue records, need protection analogous to forests.
• Prey base augmentation: blackbuck, chinkara, chital reintroduction where needed.
• Community livelihoods around cheetah landscapes — eco-tourism revenue sharing.
• Scientific transparency: mortality data should be published regularly and subjected to independent review.
• Parallel Asiatic lion translocation must not be indefinitely postponed.

Latest Developments (2024–26)

Updated context:

• Cub births have continued at Kuno; by May 2026, 49 cubs had been born on Indian soil across 11 litters since 2023, with 37 surviving — taking India’s total cheetah count to 57.
• Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (MP) is now operational as the second cheetah site and hosts 3 cheetahs, easing pressure on Kuno’s carrying capacity.
• Fourth cohort translocation from Kenya/South Africa is under discussion.
• Revised Project Cheetah Action Plan (2024) emphasises landscape-scale planning, not just park-level management.
• The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), Namibia continues as technical partner.
• Supreme Court in 2024 directed quicker progress on Asiatic lion translocation to Kuno alongside cheetah project.
• Grassland restoration has received new budgetary support under MoEFCC in 2024–25.

UPSC Relevance

Paper mapping: GS Paper III — Environment, Biodiversity, Conservation.

Prelims pointers:

• Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) went extinct in India in 1952; last three shot in 1947 in Koriya district, Chhattisgarh.
• Asiatic subspecies: A. j. venaticus; African subspecies: A. j. jubatus.
• Project Cheetah began at Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh on 17 September 2022.
• First batch: 8 cheetahs from Namibia; second: 12 from South Africa (Feb 2023).
• The WII (Dehradun) conducted the feasibility study.
• Candidate sites included Kuno, Nauradehi, Velavadar, Shahgarh Bulge.
• Cheetah is the fastest land animal (up to 120 km/h).
• IUCN status: Vulnerable globally; Asiatic subspecies Critically Endangered.
• Partner organisation in Namibia: Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).

Mains angles:

• "Discuss the scientific, ecological and conservation challenges of Project Cheetah and suggest a way forward."
• "Evaluate the relative merits of cheetah reintroduction versus Asiatic lion translocation in India's big cat conservation strategy."

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