Cheetahs will appear in India for the first time in 70 years — eight animals will be brought from Namibia, home to one of the worldʼs largest populations of wild cats.
This is reported by the BBC.
The animalsʼ comeback comes seven decades after cheetahs were officially declared extinct in India in 1952. The government has been working on the transportation of animals for the past two years. The first arrivals will settle in Kuno-Palpur National Park — it has a favorable area for cheetahs. The time of the move will be related to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the countryʼs independence.
"The main objective of the cheetah reintroduction project is to create a viable cheetah population in India that will allow it to fulfill its functional role as a top predator," the countryʼs Ministry of Environment said, adding that it would revive the ecological dynamics of the landscape.
Cheetahs have disappeared in India due to habitat loss and lack of food. It is the only large mammal that became extinct in the country after its independence from British rule. At one time, the Asiatic cheetah could be found in areas stretching from the Arabian Peninsula to Afghanistan. Currently, it is known that he survived only in Iran (there are only 12 individuals there).
The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, it can reach speeds of up to 113 kilometers per hour. The species is classified as vulnerable and endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature list. There are only about 7,000 individuals left in the wild around the world.