A week from now, cheetahs may be soaking in the monsoon in the heart of incredible India. Sources tell TOI cheetahs from Africa may be brought to MP’s Kuno National Park on August 12, though the date isn’t set yet, just in time for India’s 75th Independence Day.
With the clock ticking, the leopards that are still lurking in the special enclosures built for cheetahs are giving sleepless nights to forest officials, having eluded all attempts to capture them for weeks. The wily leopards haven’t taken the bait — goats kept in cages haven’t been touched.
These leopards have to be caught and released outside the predator-proof fence that protects the cheetah enclosure. At least two of the leopards have been clicked by camera traps but they are dodging the steel traps.
Owing to this, 100 cheetals that have been shifted from other places to augment the prey base for the cheetahs have had to be released outside the fenced area. If they were put in the enclosure, the leopards wouldn’t have moved out of the buffet. Some 700 cheetals are to be released in the cheetah enclosure and the first lot has arrived at Kuno.
Officers are now planning to shift the remaining wildlife from inside the enclosure to deprive the leopards of prey and make the goats in the cages look more appetizing.
Neither the state forest department, nor Kuno field staff or NTCA chief SP Yadav is in a position to predict the exact date for arrival of cheetahs in India from Namibia, but they know they are watching the clock tick down.
The forest department had sought help from WII-Dehradun researchers to deal with the leopards. “Two researchers from WII are on it. They will be captured soon. We have more plans,” district forest officer Prakash Verma told TOI. In fact, the WII team started its capture operations on Wednesday night. They are looking for high activity areas to set their traps, say sources.
Six leopards were trapped inside the 12km predator-proof enclosure for the cheetahs while it was being built. Drop-door cages have caught only two cubs; four adults continue to thwart the foresters in the 500-hectare fenced area.
Officers are wary of a leopard vs cheetah conflict if Kuno’s original predators remain in the same enclosure. Leopards are bigger than cheetahs and will not only compete for prey but are also known to injure and even kill them.
Experts say that Kuno, with its reduced human pressures after relocation of all the villages, can sustain up to 21 cheetahs on its existing prey base. Based on carrying capacity estimates, the potential 3,200sqkm cheetah habitat in the Kuno landscape, with restorative measures and scientific management, can hold up to 36 cheetahs, say officials.
With the clock ticking, the leopards that are still lurking in the special enclosures built for cheetahs are giving sleepless nights to forest officials, having eluded all attempts to capture them for weeks. The wily leopards haven’t taken the bait — goats kept in cages haven’t been touched.
These leopards have to be caught and released outside the predator-proof fence that protects the cheetah enclosure. At least two of the leopards have been clicked by camera traps but they are dodging the steel traps.
Owing to this, 100 cheetals that have been shifted from other places to augment the prey base for the cheetahs have had to be released outside the fenced area. If they were put in the enclosure, the leopards wouldn’t have moved out of the buffet. Some 700 cheetals are to be released in the cheetah enclosure and the first lot has arrived at Kuno.
Officers are now planning to shift the remaining wildlife from inside the enclosure to deprive the leopards of prey and make the goats in the cages look more appetizing.
Neither the state forest department, nor Kuno field staff or NTCA chief SP Yadav is in a position to predict the exact date for arrival of cheetahs in India from Namibia, but they know they are watching the clock tick down.
The forest department had sought help from WII-Dehradun researchers to deal with the leopards. “Two researchers from WII are on it. They will be captured soon. We have more plans,” district forest officer Prakash Verma told TOI. In fact, the WII team started its capture operations on Wednesday night. They are looking for high activity areas to set their traps, say sources.
Six leopards were trapped inside the 12km predator-proof enclosure for the cheetahs while it was being built. Drop-door cages have caught only two cubs; four adults continue to thwart the foresters in the 500-hectare fenced area.
Officers are wary of a leopard vs cheetah conflict if Kuno’s original predators remain in the same enclosure. Leopards are bigger than cheetahs and will not only compete for prey but are also known to injure and even kill them.
Experts say that Kuno, with its reduced human pressures after relocation of all the villages, can sustain up to 21 cheetahs on its existing prey base. Based on carrying capacity estimates, the potential 3,200sqkm cheetah habitat in the Kuno landscape, with restorative measures and scientific management, can hold up to 36 cheetahs, say officials.