Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: BEGINNING a new chapter in India-Botswana cooperation in wildlife conservation, Botswana on November 13 donated eight cheetahs to India under Project Cheetah.
The symbolic donation event took place during the visit of President Droupadi Murmu and her Botswana counterpart Duma Gideon Boko to the Mokolodi Nature Reserve during which the two leaders witnessed release of captured cheetahs originating from the Ghanzi region into the quarantine facility by experts from India and Botswana.
“This event marks Botswana’s symbolic donation of eight cheetahs to India under Project Cheetah. This event signifies the beginning of a new chapter in India-Botswana cooperation in wildlife conservation,” the President’s Secretariat stated.
According to Cheetah Conservation Botswana (CCB), Botswana hosts one of the world’s largest populations of cheetahs, with an estimated population of approximately 1,700 individuals. This accounts for approximately 25 per cent of the world’s remaining wild cheetahs. Due to Botswana’s location in the centre of southern Africa, this population is also crucial to facilitate connectivity between other regional populations.
India’s Project Cheetah is a landmark wildlife conservation initiative launched on September 17, 2022 aimed at reintroducing cheetahs to India after their extinction in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
As the world’s first intercontinental large wild carnivore translocation project, it operates under the umbrella of Project Tiger and aligns with the Cheetah Action Plan to restore and conserve the species. Efforts are underway to expand suitable habitats, ensuring long-term survival and ecological balance in India’s grassland ecosystems.
