An asssement of the possibility of re-introducing cheetah into India after their extinction on the sub-continent in the 1960′s, has been made. A group from the Wildlife Institute of India and the Wildlife Trust of India have submitted a paper to their country’s Ministry for Environment and Forests considering the improvement in dry grassland and desert ecology by bringing back cheetah.

This would mean that in some areas potentially tiger, leopard, lion and cheetah could co-exist which is sure to have a positive impact on tourism even though there is still talk of terminating tourism in the tiger reserves. The experts recognise the need for government backing of course, but also realise a requirement for an increase in prey species and protection of the areas of reintroduction.

Three national parks were identified including two in central India and one in the desert of western Rajasthan in which suitable habitats would be available for cheetah survival. They also recognise that the cheetahs would need to be introduced from populations in Africa and Iran. There is no time frame for this and it must be approved but given that there is so much that needs to be done just to save the Bengal tiger, India’s flagship feline, this is certainly a very optimistic proposal for the near future.

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