В Индии зафиксировано 11 случаев пересечения гепардами границы, что ставит под угрозу цели проекта по их реинтродукции

BHOPAL: A cheetah does not read maps. It follows prey, tests unfamiliar terrain and pushes into new territory on instinct alone. Such tendencies are not lost on the big cats from Africa released in India under Project Cheetah. But every case of one of these cheetahs crossing over from Madhya Pradesh into Rajasthan has, so far, ended the same way: a tranquilliser dart, a scramble of veterinarians and forest officials, and a forced ride back to Kuno National Park. Since Project Cheetah began in Sept 2022, cheetahs have crossed into Rajasthan on at least 11 documented occasions, triggering eight tranquillisation operations. Some animals lingered only for a few days before capture; others ranged for weeks across forests, scrubland, farms and village edges. No cheetah illustrates this better than KP-2, an India-born male who has now been tranquillised three times after wandering into Rajasthan. In his most recent dispersal, he stayed out for 55 days — roughly 45 in Baran district and another 10 in Kota — before being darted and trucked back to Kuno. Another India-born male, KP-3, followed a near-identical arc, spending about 42 days moving through Baran and Jhalawar before he, too, was captured near the MP border. The scattered cases have now hardened into a pointed conservation question: Can a free-ranging cheetah population ever take root if every cross-border dispersal ends in capture and return? Why Kuno cheetahs keep running off Natural Instinct For wildlife biologists, there is nothing surprising about cheetahs slipping out of Kuno. Dispersal is one of the most fundamental behaviours of large carnivores. The geography involved also reinforces this natural propensity. The larger Kuno-Gandhi Sagar cheetah landscape sprawls over nearly 17,000sqkm — about 10,500sqkm in MP and 6,500sqkm in Rajasthan, where it spans districts such as Baran, Kota, Jhalawar, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur and Chittorgarh. On paper, it looks vast enough to absorb dispersing cheetahs. On the ground, it is a patchwork of forest interspersed with grazing land, farms, revenue villages and roads, where human and animal life increasingly collide by proximity rather than design. The fact that KP-2 remained in Rajasthan for such a long period clearly shows that the landscape meets the animal’s ecological requirements. It keeps returning because it finds suitable habitat here. The challenge is that there are scattered human settlements within this landscape, where livestock forms an easy prey base. Despite apprehensions, there has not been a single recorded instance of a cheetah attacking a human. Relocating entire villages is neither practical nor easy, but balanced solutions are needed that allow people and wildlife to coexist. Area of KunoGandhi Sagar cheetah landscape Precaution as policy That coexistence, however, is precisely what puts forest officials in a bind. Every time a cheetah drifts near human settlements, the pressure to act before something goes wrong becomes impossible to resist. Livestock loss, panic or the mere possibility of an accidental encounter leaves little room for administrative patience. Tranquillisation, as a result, has quietly become the default response; not an emergency measure, but standard operating procedure whenever a cheetah spends too long outside Kuno. It is an understandable administrative reflex. But wildlife experts argue that capture should be the exception, not the norm — and KP-2’s most recent journey made that tension explicit. Officials tracking him via satellite collar noted that he had adapted well to Rajasthan’s habitat and prey base. Experts advising the monitoring team reportedly cautioned against darting him again so soon, pointing out how he was tranquillised barely two months earlier and warning that repeated immobilisation could take a physiological toll. The deeper worry is ecological. Project Cheetah’s stated ambition is a connected landscape where animals can disperse, establish territories and breed naturally across state lines. Wildlife corridors are designed precisely to facilitate such movements. They enable animals to explore new habitats, establish territories, locate mates and maintain genetic diversity across populations. If dispersing cheetahs are consistently tranquillised whenever they enter Rajasthan, the ecological purpose of developing a connected Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape could eventually be undermined. Stalled paperwork Despite three years of cheetahs regularly wandering across the border, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are yet to sign a formal memorandum of understanding for coordinated cheetah management. And that’s despite both states having separately cleared the draft MoU. The proposed MoU envisions a feasibility study on free cheetah movement across the wider Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape, common monitoring protocols, joint scientific studies with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), stronger habitat management and coordinated mechanisms for handling animals that cross state lines — including provisions for capture, recapture or release during emergencies in line with the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and environment ministry and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines. Had the agreement been signed, feasibility studies could already have begun. WII could have started scientific assessments, and work on developing cheetah grasslands and preparing a coordinated landscape strategy would already be underway. Rajasthan had approved the proposed MoU with Madhya Pradesh to undertake a joint feasibility study on the free movement of cheetahs between Kuno National Park and the Kuno-Gandhi Sagar Cheetah Landscape. Project Cheetah The signing was deferred after Madhya Pradesh sought amendments to the draft and proposed a larger event with the participation of both CMs. In the meantime, however, coordination happens informally. Rajasthan’s chief wildlife warden, Arun Prasad, said cooperation between the two states already occurs in practice, MoU or not. The moment a cheetah enters Rajasthan, communication begins between the forest departments of both states. Field teams remain in constant coordination with the Kuno authorities and provide logistical and ground support. However, the decision on whether the animal should be tranquillised, and the timing of that intervention, is taken by the Kuno management team. As of now, the proposed MoU is not immediately in sight. Perhaps the most significant shift is in how Rajasthan itself is now viewed. Once seen as merely the neighbouring state where dispersing cheetahs occasionally strayed into, it is increasingly being framed as a legitimate part of the species’ long-term range in India. The landscape around Rawatbhata, adjoining Gandhi Sagar, is considered highly favourable for cheetahs. What it needs is habitat development. It is not a protected area and contains sparsely populated villages. If prey populations are strengthened and habitat protection is improved, this region has the potential to become an important extension of the cheetah landscape.