Cheetah returns to India

Birdnuts

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/india-cheetah.html

A most welcome development after what has been a rather long drawn out affair that initially involved the Indian government approaching Iran(where the last few Wild Asian cheetahs reside) - however lack of co-operation and the low number of animals left cut off this route.
However South Africa stepped in too save the day and now it looks like Wild Cheetahs will once again grace the plains of central India after a sad absence of nearly a centuary.


PS: As regards how close these animals will be to the original Indian type, recent genetic studies have shown that the entire surviving population of this species both in Africa and Asia are quiet homogenous which means no unique genepool will be put at risk:)

Adam Khor

Those are great news!

I read recently that tigers will also be reintroduced to the area originally occupied by the Caspian tiger, which seemingly isn´t that different from the Siberian tiger after all.

(As for me, I'm still waiting for wolves and bears to be reintroduced to my state XD)

Birdnuts

Adam Khor wrote: »

Those are great news!

I read recently that tigers will also be reintroduced to the area originally occupied by the Caspian tiger, which seemingly isn´t that different from the Siberian tiger after all.

(As for me, I'm still waiting for wolves and bears to be reintroduced to my state XD)

Yes - I understand Russia is planning to give Kazakstan some Siberian Tigers for the purpose, to be re-introduced to a vast 300,000 hectare reserve near the Caspian sea. This country has quiet a low human population density so assuming the area is reasonably well protected this could be a great advance in the protection of this species:)

Hollzy

Do you know the name of the reserve? I'd love to hear more about that...

Galvasean

So that'll be the 6th big cat in india joining the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, the Indian leopard, the snow leopard and clouded leopard.

Mickeroo

Hollzy wrote: »

Do you know the name of the reserve? I'd love to hear more about that...

Apparently there's three regions they're looking at: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/india-cheetah727.html#cr

Also according to wikipedia:

Currently, wildlife experts have shortlisted three regions which have the potential to support cheetah populations. The Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary and Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh and the Shahgarh bulge landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan[34] have been declared potentially suitable for the reintroduction of the cheetah. The Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh has the potential to hold populations of all four of India's big cats the tiger, the leopard, the Asiatic lion as well as the cheetah, all four of which have coexisted in the same habitats historically before they were wiped out due to over hunting and habitat destruction. Since the Shahgarh Landscape is fenced along the Indo-Pak border region, the addition of more fencing will ensure adequate protection for the cheetah population. The Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary (1197km2) is part of a much larger forested landscape (5500km2 ) which can host the cheetah as well.[35][36][37]

At a future date when sufficient population has built up other former range habitats in India after revitalizing them may also be considered for reintroduction like the Banni grasslands and Desert National Park[38][39][40] etc.

Hollzy

Thanks! I love cheetahs, it's great to hear a good news story!

Mickeroo

Yeah, that article is a couple of years old now I think too, I wonder if there's been much progress made since.

Hollzy

I just did a Google news search to see and the most recent article is from three days ago. It's not looking good

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107388

There's a pdf in it though which looks interesting..

http://199.48.254.95/~wtiorgin/publications/cheetah-report.pdf

Birdnuts

Hollzy wrote: »

I just did a Google news search to see and the most recent article is from three days ago. It's not looking good

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107388

There's a pdf in it though which looks interesting..

http://199.48.254.95/~wtiorgin/publications/cheetah-report.pdf[/QUOTE]

Political wranglings between goverment Depts and states have held up this project - and the one to move some of those Asian Lions from Gir Forest to a large NP in Madha Pradesh:(

Hollzy

It's so frustrating!

wicorthered

I wouldn't be a fan of this. Asiatic Lions and Tigers are already in critical condition in India and now people want to throw another big cat conservation project into the mix!?

In an ideal world cheetah reintroduction would be amazing but for me it's a waste of resources, resources that could go to projects more likely to succeed! Once Indian's lions and tigers are restored to stable populations, then move onto the ext species. Don't run before you can walk!!

Birdnuts

wicorthered wrote: »

I wouldn't be a fan of this. Asiatic Lions and Tigers are already in critical condition in India and now people want to throw another big cat conservation project into the mix!?

In an ideal world cheetah reintroduction would be amazing but for me it's a waste of resources, resources that could go to projects more likely to succeed! Once Indian's lions and tigers are restored to stable populations, then move onto the ext species. Don't run before you can walk!!

I take your point - but as far as I understand this species will be filling a totally different niche(in ecological terms) to the other big cats.

wicorthered

The niche it fills isn't my point.

Money for conservation projects is relatively scarce, therefore it's very precious. All funds need to be spent wisely.

Instead of trying to reestablish a population in India out of guilt, why not put the resource into saving the Iranian cheetah? Surely it makes more sense to repopulate an area where cheetahs do exist. Then if in 20 years time the population is stable you could possibly look at India.

If the resources need to stay in India why not protect a cat that is actually there. There are wild tigers and lions in India use the money to save them not an animal that's not even present.

People have the wrong outlook to conservation. It's impossible to save every species. We should be prioritizing. Giant pandas may be cute and cuddly but won't breed in captivity. Enormous resources are wasted on it. How many less photogenic species could have been saved with that money?

Adam Khor

wicorthered wrote: »

The niche it fills isn't my point.

Money for conservation projects is relatively scarce, therefore it's very precious. All funds need to be spent wisely.

Instead of trying to reestablish a population in India out of guilt, why not put the resource into saving the Iranian cheetah? Surely it makes more sense to repopulate an area where cheetahs do exist. Then if in 20 years time the population is stable you could possibly look at India.

If the resources need to stay in India why not protect a cat that is actually there. There are wild tigers and lions in India use the money to save them not an animal that's not even present.

People have the wrong outlook to conservation. It's impossible to save every species. We should be prioritizing. Giant pandas may be cute and cuddly but won't breed in captivity. Enormous resources are wasted on it. How many less photogenic species could have been saved with that money?

I agree.

I'm not saying-like someone said recently- that we should let pandas go extinct, but by now it should be obvious that captive breeding won´t save them.
There are many species that are being bred on captivity but their habitats aren´t being protected as they should. Where will those animals go once they are numerous enough? What's the point of having hundreds of endangered animals behind bars if there's no place for their descendants to go back to? I think the money should be used to designate and mantain protected land where the entire ecosystem (not just one or two charismatic species) can recover. Just my two cents...

Hollzy

You need to focus on species like the tiger. It's appealing to the public and it has a large territory, so if you conserve an area of land for tigers, you're protecting an awful lot of other species too. I agree that we shouldn't just let pandas go extinct but we've got to come up with a new strategy to conserve them, which will hopefully leave more resources for other endangered species.

Birdnuts

Adam Khor wrote: »

I agree.

I'm not saying-like someone said recently- that we should let pandas go extinct, but by now it should be obvious that captive breeding won´t save them.
There are many species that are being bred on captivity but their habitats aren´t being protected as they should. Where will those animals go once they are numerous enough? What's the point of having hundreds of endangered animals behind bars if there's no place for their descendants to go back to? I think the money should be used to designate and mantain protected land where the entire ecosystem (not just one or two charismatic species) can recover. Just my two cents...

Habitat protection is key - sadly some of the richest habitats on the planet are the ones under most threat eg. Indonesia's rainforest are rapidly disappearing thanx to palm oil plantations, wood pulp and the callous indifference/dysfunctionality of the government. Hard to see species like the Sumatran Tiger, Rhino, Orang Utan etc. surviving much beyond 2020 in the wild:(

Hollzy

And many of the most biodiverse terrestrial habitats on the planet are also some of the most densely populated by humans.

recedite

Adam Khor wrote: »

What's the point of having hundreds of endangered animals behind bars if there's no place for their descendants to go back to?

You don't know what will happen in the future; maybe human populations will drop, or priorities will change and they will just decide to re-establish wildlife habitats.

Re Cheetahs in India, the cynic might say that if the tigers become extinct there in the wild, they will want to have some wildlife reserves containing wild cheetahs and lions to help keep the tourism industry going.

Hollzy

It has to be said though... The chances of the human population dropping or even plateauing in the foreseeable future are incredibly slim.

recedite

In most developed countries (not Ireland) people reproduce at less than the replacement rate. Populations are sustained through immigration. What happens if/when all countries become developed?

Mickeroo

recedite wrote: »

In most developed countries (not Ireland) people reproduce at less than the replacement rate. Populations are sustained through immigration. What happens if/when all countries become developed?

I don't think all countries can become developed to the level of the west in the world we live in. The planet would not be able to sustain the levels of consumption that would entail. If there's a population crash it will be for a lot more drastic and catastrophic reason than countries becoming developed imho. Considering we'll be hitting carrying capacity within the next 50 years I don't think its all that unlikely that our society will have some sort of collapse either.

Birdnuts

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kazakh-cheetah.html

This would be great news for the conservation of this species if proven to be true

recedite

Hmmm.... the eco disaster of the Aral Sea might turn out to be beneficial to cheetahs; depopulation of fishing towns and expanses of flat grassland where formerly there was a lake.