Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
15 May 2025 | 14:00 CAT
4 min read

In 2022, India launched an ambitious wildlife initiative – Project Cheetah – aiming to reintroduce the world’s fastest land animal to the subcontinent after over seventy years of local extinction. Cheetahs were flown in from Namibia and South Africa, marking a moment of national pride and what many believed was a bold conservation milestone.

However, just two years later, the project is under growing scrutiny. Multiple animal deaths, poor survival rates, and rising tension with local communities have sparked serious questions. Was this really about conservation, or was it more about image?

To break it down, Dr Ravi Chellam, a veteran wildlife biologist with decades of experience, joined Radio Islam International’s The Insight. According to Dr Chellam, the idea of reviving cheetahs in India has more complexities than most realise.

“Project Cheetah aims to establish a free-ranging population of wild cheetahs in India,” he explained. Historically, India had Asiatic cheetahs, which went extinct locally between the late 1940s and the 1960s. Today, the only surviving population of Asiatic cheetahs is in Iran, with only about 20 adults left. That limited number made it unfeasible to draw from Iran’s population, pushing India to source cheetahs from Africa instead.

“The cheetahs are only a mascot, a flagship for the real stated aim of the project, which is to restore, conserve what they call open natural ecosystems,” said Dr Chellam, highlighting neglected ecosystems such as grasslands and dry forests.

But the risks of moving animals across continents are significant. While transport was managed well with “no mortalities during the transport phase,” Dr Chellam pointed out that cheetahs are “fragile animals” and face multiple challenges upon arrival, from unfamiliar habitats and climate to human activity and development like roads and electricity lines.

So far, the numbers paint a grim picture. Out of 20 adults brought from Namibia and South Africa, eight have died. Of the 26 cubs born in captivity in India, seven have also died. “There has been a case of a kidney failure. There was septicemia, which is an infection. Some cubs had died due to heat, dehydration, and malnutrition. From the African experts who are actually supporting the project, there have been statements that many of these deaths could have been avoided,” he noted.

Perhaps one of the core issues lies in the choice of habitat. Kuno National Park, the primary site, may not be suitable for sustaining a viable cheetah population. “Cheetahs are what we call a low-density, wide-ranging species… Even in the best of habitats, you could get only one or two cheetahs in a hundred square kilometers,” he explained. In comparison, India’s large cat habitats are much more compact and crowded. “To have a viable population of cheetahs, which is often in the range of 50 to 100 animals, you are going to need five, six, ten thousand square kilometres… India just does not have that extent of habitat today,” said Dr Chellam.

Beyond ecology, the project is also straining human-wildlife relationships. Cheetahs have started straying outside park boundaries, entering villages, and attacking livestock. “We have records of at least three or four instances of them attacking goats and cows. And from those videos, it is also clear that these cheetahs are not in very good condition. Desperately hungry,” he said.

Local communities are increasingly feeling excluded from the process. “There has not been prior informed consent. There has not been enough attempt at informing people of what the project is about… And the local people only find out as and when things happen in front of their eyes,” he said.

From a scientific standpoint, the foundations of the project are shaky. “The science has been ignored. It is based on a false premise that South Africa has a surplus population of cheetahs,” Chellam said. “India does not have the required extent of quality habitat.”

Even India’s top conservation policy document, the Wildlife Action Plan (2017–2031), does not mention Project Cheetah. “This has distracted attention and resources from much higher priority conservation issues. For instance, the translocation of the Asiatic lions, the conservation of the Great Indian Bustard and the Caracal, just to name a few,” he warned.

Concerns are also mounting over transparency, animal welfare, and even legal violations. “The Supreme Court of India ordered in April 2013 that lions have to be translocated from Gir to Kuno… Not only did that order say translocate lions, it said that it was illegal to introduce African cheetahs,” he said.

Ultimately, what began as a headline-grabbing return of a lost species now risks becoming a cautionary tale. “The foreign experts themselves commented that we thought this was conservation, but it is turning out to be a political project,” Dr Chellam said.

LISTEN to the full interview with Muallimah Annisa Essack and Dr Ravi Chellam, one of India’s leading wildlife biologists and conservation experts, who has been involved with research and conservation of the Asiatic lions since 1985, here.