Cheetah is the only living being we think of when anyone mentions speed! It is undoubtedly the fastest feline! It's small round head crowns it's perfectly slender chassis with a muscular toned body to suit the feat. Lean mean machine, is what a speed lover would say!
But their speed sadly couldn't outrun the detrimental claws of human habitat, hunting and other illegal activities and biggest yet, CLIMATE CHANGE! Cheetah already lives in hot regions. With climate change increasing the temperatures in these regions, it makes it unfavourable for life like plants and other animals and disrupts the ecosystem.
Even with their speed they tend to miss their prey. As we all know faster machines heat-up sooner! With a legendary speed of 70-75 miles per hour, the cheetah tends to slow down every 100 meters. Their strategy of sprinting before the kill is not always fruitful!
With climate change affecting their habitat and humans encroaching their lands and killing them to protect their cattle, survival is a challenge for this breed.
Most of the cheetahs are only found in African regions in todays time. They became extinct in India in 1952. South and East African regions host the only living generations of this big cat.
These wandering creatures seldom form a coalition or live together. That although only comes naturally to the males. The females however live in solitude unless its the mating season. Climate change has deeply affected their reproduction as cheetahs are reported with low testosterone levels and low sperm counts ever since the rise in temperatures.
As India translocates 20 Namibian cheetahs, it will be worthwhile to watch how their foster their growth and if this move is indeed efficient.
The ideal and sustainable move would be favourable for both the humans as well as the animal and the environment! I think as long as we plan based on these, it can assure more of a positive impact than a negative one. There needs to be clarity in planning procedures when it includes translocating animals internationally or moving villages full of humans locally, instead of just displacing them. They need to do all required groundwork. have these procedures approved and monitored by the conservationists to be sure of its efficacy. This situations demands a call to arms for the conservation community. We don't have enough data that supports these strategies. Most of them being flawed, they are a bigger risk to species extinction. Spending crores of rupees on translocating animals without understanding the prospects of their survival or considering that of the civilisation around is poor planning and in no way sustainable or boosting anything but the economy.
Having lived and gathered most of life experiences with people at home, starting anew can seem like a daunting thought at first. Specifically when your mind and bodies are just recovering from the prolonged lockdowns, the unknown may not seem appealing. But nevertheless, a new start, a fresh one at it, a new chapter to write, a new set of people to pick the favourites from, these thoughts can be pacifying much! Being fully aware of the culture and the weather conditions of that city are amongst other things you ideally should know before moving. As humans we check all things to know if a place will be favourable for our growth. Even when we are born adaptable!
Picture this, you are unaware of where you are going, how you will like it there, who will you be with, will it be favourable for your growth, the weather conditions, the food, will you make money enough to survive, and support your family? Can you imagine? You cant right? What if someone gave you 15 lakhs and told you to leave the life you have behind and move to another city or village? Would you? Do you think thats enough capital to move, let alone with your dependants?
Not sure what exactly are the authorities trying to achieve under the 'development' banner! They uproot ecosystems like weeds in a farm and reorganise everything as if its child's play. Boosting eco-tourism at the cost of thousands of villagers who will now have to think about restarting life. Raising new employment opportunities while the same villagers are unsure about how the new land they have been allocated will be favourable or ready for farming immediately. Spending crores on the set-up for the cheetahs while not keeping the houses or any establishment ready for the villagers to move to. This is nothing new that the villagers in Kuno have seen. 25 years ago, in a similar but worse pattern, 1500 families were relocated for another feline! those villagers, till date, are struggling to form a stable livelihood where once their farms flourished. The fact of the matter being, the Gir lions never reached Kuno but thousands of lives were shackled for the same. The fact that marginalised communities and forest tribes do not have much of a say or support in these decisions is unfair. They are the true inhabitants and heirs of the forest lands, as they have successfully figured how to co-exist with their animals. Their lifestyles and values are the biggest examples of those and should be valued.
It is okay to reintroduce a project to focus on sustainability and climate action but mindless application of processes where you are neither sure of human welfare or the animal's adaptability is mere torture for both. Call it the capitalist move!
Not debating the biodiversity enhancement ideas however even the doctors at the park did not support this move, of having tigers, lions and cheetahs in the same environment. So, the question being, what is the actual achievement here? We need to be able to co-exist and thrive, isn't that what sustainability is all about?
Bringing in Namibian cheetahs to Kuno and disassembling an entire village could be one of the most insensible moves made by far in the name of conservation.
