Cheetahs may re-emerge in India. The country's Supreme Court on Tuesday authorized an experimental reintroduction of these felines, which were previously very present in the territory.
Historical records reveal that the Mughal emperor Akbar owned hundreds of them, which accompanied him on the hunt. But the last specimens disappeared in the 1950s. In 2013, the Supreme Court rejected a first proposal for reintroduction, considering that no scientific study recommended this reintroduction.
A fairly fragile predator
She changed her mind on Tuesday, authorizing an experimental reintroduction, to see if the African cheetah can adapt to the Indian environment. "Delighted that the Supreme Court has given the green light to the introduction of cheetahs from Namibia," said the former environment minister on Twitter. “It is the only mammal that has been hunted to extinction in modern India. "
Delighted that Supreme Court has just given OK to reintroducing cheetah from Namibia. This was something I had initiated 10 years ago. Cheetah which derives from the Sanskrit 'chitra' (speckled) is the only mammal hunted to extinction in modern India.
- Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 28, 2020Cheetahs are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of vulnerable species. They were 100,000 at the start of the 20th century. Today, less than 7,100 remain in the wild, all in Africa with the exception of a micro-population of ten specimens in Iran.
Its reintroduction has been the subject of debate in India, some specialists judging that it would remove resources necessary for the preservation of other endangered animals, others stressing that it could help the species to survive in the long term. Considered the weakest of predators, the cheetah needs large spaces with a low density of carnivores so as not to face competition from more formidable hunters, such as lions or leopards.
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