CHEETAH TRANSLOCATION

TOPIC: Geography

Context- A team of five experts will leave for Namibia February 17, 2022, to finalise details on translocating African cheetahs to India.

Concept-

The cheetah translocation project aims to bring African cheetahs to India, where the Indian cheetah was declared extinct in 1952.
The cheetahs will be sourced mainly from South Africa and Namibia.
The cheetahs will be brought to the Kuno-Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur and Morena districts.
India had tried to get Asiatic cheetahs from Iran but was refused. According to a recent statement by an Iranian government official, there are only 12 Asiatic cheetahs left in the world.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund is an international organisation dedicated to saving cheetahs in the wild.
Cheetahs are listed as “Vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species

Asiatic & African Cheetah:

	African Cheetah	Asiatic Cheetah
Habitat	Around 6,500-7,000 African cheetahs present in the wild.	Less than 100 ,found only in Iran.
Physical Characteristics	Bigger in size as compared to Asiatic Cheetah.	Smaller and paler than the African cheetah. Has more fur, a smaller head and a longer neck. Usually have red eyes and they have a more cat-like appearance.
IUCN status	Vulnerable	Critically Endangered
CITES Status	Appendix-l	Appendix-l