India to reintroduce cheetah into wildlife after more than half century

As preparations are in full swing in a wildlife resort in central India to host the cheetah – the fastest land animal – once again, many experts have expressed scepticism about this ambitious project.

The cheetah was declared officially extinct in India in 1952 due to massive hunting and poaching.

After three decades, the cheetah is being reintroduced in the country with 12-14 of them being imported from South Africa, according to an action plan devised by Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Ministry.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Jasbir Singh Chouhan, a top wildlife official in Madhya Pradesh state in central India, which has been identified as one of the sites for reintroducing the cheetah, said preparations are in full swing to welcome the wild animal into the country once again.

"Everything is in place, we in Madhya Pradesh have a long history. We have done translocation projects in the past and we have been successful. Field preparation we are doing. All possible things that are expected out of us, we are doing," he said.

He also said that at the beginning there would be less than 10-12 cheetahs and they will be supplemented every year.

The first cheetah in the world to be bred in captivity was in India during the rule of the Mughal emperor Jahangir in the 16th century.

According to government officials, the cheetah is the only large carnivore to have become extinct in Independent India, and the only option to introduce them was to procure them from abroad.