South Africa has begun relocating cheetahs to India and Mozambique in a major conservation initiative to restore the populations of these iconic big cats in regions where their numbers have sharply declined.
This week, four cheetahs from South African reserves were flown to Mozambique after spending about a month in quarantine.
Conservationists are also preparing to send 12 more cheetahs to India in October as part of a broader effort to reintroduce the world’s fastest land mammals.
Wildlife veterinarian Andy Frasier, who was involved in the relocation process, described the challenges of tranquilizing and transporting the animals.
“It’s a very stressful process for the cats to be in a boma [livestock enclosure] environment because they have nowhere to go while we are darting them,” Frasier said, referring to the tranquilization procedure. He emphasized the need for precise drug dosing to anesthetize the cheetahs safely.
Once tranquilized, the cheetahs were placed into crates and gradually regained consciousness. Frasier confirmed the animals were calm enough to proceed with their journey to Mozambique.
However, he noted that the upcoming relocation of cheetahs to India presents a bigger challenge due to the longer travel distance and stops at commercial airports. For this, the cheetahs will be given a tranquilizer lasting three to five days.
Cheetahs are classified into two subspecies, with the Asian cheetahs, once native to India, now only found in Iran after being declared extinct in India in 1952.
Reintroduction efforts in India initially aimed to source cheetahs from Iran, but the focus has shifted to cheetahs from southern Africa.
Namibia is set to contribute eight cheetahs to India this month. At the same time, South Africa will send an additional 12 in October, according to Vincent van der Merwe, manager of the Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative.
Van der Merwe stated that to establish a genetically viable population in India, at least 500 cheetahs are needed.
To achieve this, southern African countries will send eight to 12 cheetahs annually to India to boost numbers and introduce new genetic lines.
Indian officials believe this initiative will support global cheetah conservation, as their range in Africa is limited.
The relocated cheetahs will initially live in large, predator-protected enclosures in central Indian forests, where they can adapt to their new environment and hunt prey like deer and antelope.
After a few months of monitoring, the cheetahs will be fitted with radio collars and released into the wild.
Countries like South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, which still have significant cheetah populations, are expected to play a key role in these reintroduction efforts.
Van der Merwe noted that South Africa’s cheetah population is expanding by about 8% annually, allowing the country to relocate cheetahs within its reserves and export some to other countries.
Mozambique’s Zambezi River delta, once home to a thriving cheetah population, saw numbers plummet due to poaching and predation by lions and leopards.
This week’s relocation involved tranquilizing two male and two female cheetahs in South Africa’s Limpopo province and transporting them to the Marromeu National Reserve in Mozambique’s Zambezi delta region, where conservationists hope they will help rebuild the local population.
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