Gandhi Sagar is spread over 368 km² and has an additional area of 2,500 km² around it.
Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, the first home to translocated cheetahs in India, continues to struggle with a large leopard population and a low prey base, while twin challenges have delayed preparations at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, which will be the second site for cheetah introduction.
Summary minutes of the Centre’s Project Cheetah Steering Committee meetings reveal that prey increase and leopard management are among the key challenges facing the massive initiative since the reintroduction of cheetahs in India in September 2022.
Low prey density is also one of the reasons why the cheetahs spent an extended period in enclosures at Kuno after being released from the wild in August last year following the death of three cheetahs due to septicaemia.
As an interim solution, the authorities have been introducing dams in both Kuno and Gandhi Sagar, which are also in Madhya Pradesh. The large leopard population in both areas also prompted the initiation of a leopard translocation drive.
But committee members have repeatedly stressed the importance of “actively augmenting prey in situ,” saying that “augmenting prey through translocation cannot happen indefinitely.”
In a meeting held on June 18, Sanjay Raikhere, DFO Mandsaur, informed that there were 24 leopards in the 64 sq km enclosure being prepared for the new litter of cheetahs at Gandhi Sagar. According to sources, 15 leopards have been shifted from there so far.
Sources told PTI that Gandhi Sagar is “not 100 per cent ready” for cheetahs, largely because of the challenges posed by leopards and prey bases.
“We are working on making the enclosure leopard-proof. We also need to improve the prey population both inside and outside the enclosure,” a source said.
Gandhi Sagar is spread over 368 square kilometres and has an additional area of 2,500 square kilometres around it.
According to the ‘Action Plan for Cheetah Introduction in Gandhi Sagar’, in the first phase, five to eight cheetahs will be released into a 64-square-kilometre predator-proof fenced area with the aim of focusing them on breeding.
The long-term goal is to establish a metapopulation of 60 to 70 cheetahs in the Kuno-Gandhisagar landscape.
According to experts, the presence of dominant predators, such as leopards and lions, influences the cheetah’s geographic distribution and use of space.
Cheetahs, known for their exceptional speed and agility, are adapted to hunting primarily in open habitats. Leopards, in contrast, are highly adaptable to a wide range of habitats and have a more versatile diet. As a result, cheetahs tend to avoid direct confrontation with leopards by choosing habitats and times when the latter are less active.
According to Project Cheetah’s annual report for 2022-23, leopards were observed being chased away during encounters with cheetah coalitions in Kuno.
Records obtained by PTI through an RTI application show that committee members have raised serious concerns over challenges related to prey and leopards in almost all the meetings held so far.
According to the summary minutes of the June 18 meeting, Rs 3.75 crore has been spent on grass reclamation in an area of around 5,000 hectares in Kuno, as part of habitat improvement efforts to maintain a healthy prey base.
At the same meeting, Qamar Qureshi, a scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), expressed concern over the low population of chinkaras at Gandhi Sagar (outside the enclosure) and stressed the need to manage the high density of leopards there.
Steering Committee Chairperson Rajesh Gopal stressed the need for a long-term, niche-based, ecological solution to address the relative abundance of leopards.
At a meeting on March 12, SP Yadav, former director of Project Cheetah and advisor to the steering committee, said the high density of leopards in Kuno, coupled with comparatively low prey density, is a cause for concern.
Gopal said grass recovery should be carried out in a timely manner to support in-situ prey recovery and translocation of leopards should follow a standard operating procedure.
“This is important because the habitat lacks larger cats such as tigers or lions, leading to spatial/niche separation of leopards. High leopard densities would reduce standing prey biomass,” he said.
In another meeting held in December last year, Qureshi said that the assessment of prey in Kuno revealed an average of 17 prey animals per sq km, with hotspots housing around 30 to 35 prey animals per sq km. The leopard population was found to be high at 26 per 100 sq km.
At a meeting on September 4 last year, shortly after the cheetahs were returned to their enclosures from the wild, Gopal said the big cats should be released back into the wild “only when we are sure of the prey density outside, which should ideally be 30 to 60 units of chital per sq km.” At that time, only 18 to 20 units of chital per sq km were available.
During the meeting, P.R. Sinha, former director of the WII, said that while there is a need to continue with external prey supplementation, “we must not lose sight of the task of building a natural prey base through habitat manipulation.” “This task is difficult, but it is our ultimate goal,” he added.
Qureshi gave a presentation on Kuno’s prey base, noting that it had 91 leopards and that the prey population was “too low to release all the cheetahs into the wild.”
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: August 27, 2024 | 11:44 a.m. IS
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.