From friends to siblings: Meet the 8 cheetahs of India
Among the eight cheetahs brought to India from Namibia on Saturday, there are two siblings and two friends, while the youngest among the group is two years old. This is the first-of-its-kind translocation where a large carnivore is reintroduced into another continent. The big cats are, however, closely related but different from Asiatic cheetahs, who were native to India before going extinct in 1952.
Why does this story matter?
Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animals capable of reaching speeds over 110 kilometers per hour. It is considered a vulnerable species under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species with less than 7,000 cheetahs remaining in the world — primarily in the African savannas. PM Narendra Modi released the cheetahs in Kuno National Park to mark his birthday on Saturday.
These cheetahs to form founder population
The eight cheetahs — who are the first batch of the 50 cheetahs to be reintroduced in India over the next five years — will form a part of the founder population that would make way for its proliferation. The five female and three male cheetahs were identified after a long process of health checks and their ability to hunt in the wild.
Two of three males are siblings
Of the three male cheetahs, two are brothers, who have been living in the 58,000-hectare private reserve of Namibia-based international not-for-profit organization Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) near Otjiwarongo since July 2021, according to PTI. The CCF staff first noticed their tracks around the center. Another male cub was born at the Erindi Private Game Reserve located in central Namibia in 2018.
Found malnourished, nursed by farm workers
Of the two female cheetahs who are best friends, the first one was found by some workers in 2017 near a farm on Gobabis. The farm workers took care of the malnourished feline and helped her recover. When the CCF learned about her in 2018, the officials took her to their center. The CCF staff found the second cheetah on a farm in 2019.
Felines found in varying regions of Namibia
One of the identified female cheetahs has been living at the CCF center since September 2020. She was found with her brother near Gobabis in southeastern Namibia in a malnourished state. In July 2022, another female cheetah was captured in a trap cage on the CCF's neighboring farm. Another female was born in April 2020 at Erindi Game Reserve.
