Centre Constitutes Cheetah Task Force For Monitoring Work In Kuno NP

New Delhi: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has constituted a Task Force for monitoring Cheetah introduction in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, and other suitable designated areas.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) would facilitate the working of the Cheetah Task Force and render all necessary help.  The Task Force shall be in force for a period of two years.  This task force may appoint a subcommittee to regularly visit the Cheetah introduction area as and when decided by them.

Cheetah restoration is part of a prototype or model for the restoration of original cheetah habitats and their biodiversity.

This will help to stem the degradation and rapid loss of biodiversity.  Bringing back a top predator restores historic evolutionary balance resulting in cascading effects on various levels of the ecosystem.

Bringing the cheetah back is expected to have important conservation ramifications.  The cheetah has been the evolutionary natural selection force that has shaped the adaptation of high speeds in Indian antelopes and gazelles.

By restoring the cheetah, we would also be able to save not only its prey base comprising certain threatened species, but also other endangered species of the grasslands / open forest ecosystems, some of which are on the brink of extinction.