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India may reintroduce cheetahs09/07/2009 12:52:48
Cheetahs went extinct in India in 1950's - India wants to reintroduce them. Credit Wildlife Extra.. July 2009. An Indian government minister has stated that cheetahs may be imported to India in an attempt to repopulate the country with the only animal that has been declared extinct in India in the last 1,000 years. "We will have to get them from abroad to repopulate the species," said Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh when responding to a question. "We soon hope to do so," he added. Tigers disappearing "Our analysis shows that the situation in 16 reserves is truly alarming and they stand to lose all their tigers if the appropriate action is not undertaken to improve the situation," the minister said. "These 16 reserves are in the danger zone from where tigers have vanished or are on the brink of vanishing. Twelve reserves are in good condition, while the situation in the remaining nine is satisfactory but needs to improve," he added. Threats
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Cheetah reintroduction in India is a welcome news, but the introduction of another species of Cheetah(African) in India will not be of any conservation value. Moreover African cheetahs are not even a threatened species and are thriving well in their native territory.
It seems the whole plan is ill conceived, and Indian govt must not decide in haste.
Reintroduction another species will augment the problem of conservation in India, Where there is no assessment of what the alien species will have in the native eco-system. Instead sustained international effort must be exerted on Iran to send the Asiatic cheetahs to India, where other big cats are thriving well.
Already the world has to grapple with the introduction of alien species in Hawaiian Islands and Mauritius, which is causing havoc to indigenous species.
So introducing alien species must be studied thoroughly before being undertaken.
If Iran shares the cheetah with other countries, it will only augment its effort to save the species from extinction.
Posted by: sailormani | 07 Aug 2009 08:32:42
Africa Asia
TIGERS(Indian, Siberian, or Sumatran) *N Y
LIONS(African or Indian) Y Y
Jaguars N N
Leopards(any of the nine species) Y (2-3/9) Y(6-8/9)
Pumas N Y
Cheetahs Y Y
All the big cats that are found in Africa are also found in Asia (Let it be different sub-species).
Cheetahs are found in Iran (Presently Only place where they are found in wild in Asia).
Cheetahs were VERY RECENTLY extinct in India (1950's.)
Leopards are found in many parts of Asia.
Indian(Asiatic) Lions are found ONLY in Gir national park, Gujrat, India, Asia.
All the 5 species of Tigers Are found only in Asia in Wild. Largest population is of THE ROYAL INDIAN TIGER(Royal Bengal Tiger), About 1500-3000 Roam in the wild. Among which about 75-85% are found in India. India Has The Largest Population Of Tigers, (Put together any sub species of tigers Outside India in wild).
AFRICA DOES NOT HAVE ANY WILD TIGERS.
Asia, Though little in numbers, has all (3/3)(Cheetahs, Leopards and Lions + TIGERS, Largest and the most powerful Cat ) those bigcats in wild which are found in Africa.
Out of these four big cats all Leopards are found Every where in Asia(Also in India, Which has about 5/9 species of leopard in the world)
Tigers Are Found In Many Places In Asia(east, south and south east)(also in India)
Lions Are Found only in India.
CHEETAHS ARE FOUND IN IRAN and very RECENTLY EXTINCT IN INDIA (THE ONLY ANIMAL KNOWN TO HAVE BECOME EXTINCT IN INDIA FOR THE LAST 1000 YEARS).
This shows that India has the potential and the resources to re introduce Cheetahs ( Africa Is Trying To Introduce Tigers).
BUT INDIA MUST FIRST FIND BETTER WAYS TO TACKLE POACHING. BECAUSE RE INTRODUCING AN ANIMAL IS NOT A JOKE AND IF IT FAILS FOR THE SECOND TIME THEN I THINK IT MUST DEVELOP AND PROTECT WHAT IT HAS AND WHEN COMPLETELY SUCCESSFUL, IT CAN TRY TO CARRY ON EXPERIMENTS.
NOTE: Above stats are based on my rough knowledge and may not be 100% accurate.
Posted by: Sorabh Sharma | 11 Jul 2009 08:54:18
The thought of re introducing Cheetahs is fantastic - but before this bold step we should get our house in order and conserve what we have - Tiger !! " A bird in hand is better that two birds in the bush "
Posted by: Pavan | 11 Jul 2009 05:30:05
Although the idea sounds very good, unfortunately the situation in India re wildlife is far from good wıth many reserves suffering from population growth into the reserves and poaching. Until India is able to control these two major issues, there will be very likelyhood of cheetahs being able to survive if releases in India
Posted by: colin guest | 10 Jul 2009 15:07:42