On Saturday, 12 cheetahs from South Africa were released in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. With this, the total number of cheetahs in KNP has gone up to 20.
The transfer of 12 cheetahs from South Africa to India was made possible due to environmental laws changed after Nelson Mandela was elected president after 27 years as a political prisoner of the white minority apartheid government, according to news agency PTI.
Earlier, India had severed all ties with South Africa for nearly four decades for leading the international fight against apartheid.
In an official statement, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) said the transition to democracy had substantial implications for wild cheetah conservation in South Africa.
"The Game Theft Act (No. 105 of 1991) was responsible for a major change in land use from agriculture to ecotourism," the statement said.
It states that since 1994 cheetahs have been reintroduced into 63 newly established game reserves that currently support a combined metapopulation of 460 individuals. The department has also approved the export of 29 wild cheetahs per year to support conservation efforts for the species outside the country, PTI reported.
Barbara Creasy, Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, said it was because of South Africa's successful conservation practices that the country could participate in a project such as 'restoring a species to a former range state and thus protecting the future' To contribute to the existence of 'caste'.
On Saturday, 12 cheetahs from South Africa were released in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. With this, the total number of cheetahs in KNP has gone up to 20.
The transfer of 12 cheetahs from South Africa comes three years after it was considered by the Indian government. Originally, India had launched plans to bring the cheetahs there by mid-2022, but a delay in finalizing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries led to the postponement, with the animal continuing with its quarantine. are.
The 'African Cheetah Introduction Project in India' was conceived in 2009, but failed to take off for over a decade. The plan to bring cheetah to Cuneo by November 2021 suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The translation was coordinated by seven South African government departments, universities and environmental organisations; Also three in India - National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department.
No comments:
Post a Comment