Rewilding of India with cheetahs is becoming a failure

Cheetahs were once widespread in India. They became extinct in 1952 due to habitat loss and their persecution by sport hunters. They are the only predator to become extinct in India since that country's independence in 1947. They want cheetahs back in India and the only way they can achieve it is to import them from Africa which is what they've done. But relocating cheetahs from one continent to another is very risky as is being proven.

Imported cheetah from Namibia to India waiting to be released into the Kuno NP. Image: AP.

The Independent newspaper tell me that India has "borrowed" 20 cheetahs from Africa; I presume Namibia where there is the highest population of cheetahs in the world. The word "borrowed" is incorrect. That's obvious. They are a gift from I believe Namibia but these precious cheetahs are finding it too hard to survive. The project the rewilding is called Project Cheetah and was started on Sept 17th, 2022.

The project the rewilding injure with cheetahs is taking place in Kuno National Park. There have now been eight fatalities. The authorities have confirmed of yet another cheetah death bringing the total to 8 in four months.

The most recent death is of a cheetah named Suraj (which means "sun"). This cat's death comes just five days after the country lost its seventh whose name was Tejas (meaning brilliance). This cheetah died of traumatic shock caused by injuries to their neck. Ironically the injuries were caused by a fight with a female cheetah and not by an existing predator within the park.

The report tells me that it is not clear as yet as to why the cheetah died. It must either be an attack from another predator or ill-health. There appears to have been two shipments from Africa. The first shipment was of eight cheetahs and the second was of 12 which occurred in February.

One of them was a female who became pregnant and gave birth in March to 4 cubs. Three of them died. These deaths have been counted into the tally of eight fatalities so far.

I'm told that 15 adult cheetahs remain in the park together with a single surviving cub who is now nearly 5 months old and being reared in captivity. The project was always seen as ambitious. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which indicates its importance to India.

The project is indicative of how very difficult it is to play catch up in conservation. In 1952 India was a different place. The population of India in 2021 was 1.4 billion. In 1952 the population was 373 million. 

The human population of India has more than tripled over the ensuing time which makes it even more difficult to introduce a new species into the country. There's going to be more habitat loss because of the gradual encroachment of new human settlements and commercial activity. 

As mentioned, habitat loss was one reason why the cheetah became extinct in the country in the first place.

Although India does have some good national parks (reserves) although these are often tiger reserves.

Negative comment in video:

40-60 wildcats to be released in Devon and Cornwall, UK

I am both surprised and pleased to read this story in The Times today. They are going to release European wildcats into parts of Devon and Cornwall in the UK. As I recall, the last wildcat in England was shot by a rich landowner in the middle of the 19th century. 

The European wildcat is very similar to the tabby domestic cat but a little larger and definitely fiercer! Image: in the public domain (believed).

Before that they were killed by hunters looking for their pelts. They were exterminated completely in England, Wales and Ireland but it is believed that around 200 remain in Scotland.

The problem with the Scottish population of wild cat is that it is probable that most if not all of them are hybrids being first-generation offspring from matings between a genuine, purebred wildcat and a feral cat or even a domestic cat wandering around outside as these two species can make quite freely. 

This is unsurprising because the domestic cat is a domesticated wildcat, specifically the North African wildcat.

So back to the rewilding. Like I said, I'm surprised because there's been talk about this for a long time and historically farmers dislike the rewilding of countryside with predators. Separately, there's a lot of talk about rewilding the New Forest (near the south coast of England) with lynx but the lynx is quite a lot bigger than the wildcat.

The wildcat preys on rodents and small mammals and of course birds. That won't please the ornithologists either.

As the title states, the plan is to introduce between 40 and 60 wildcat into parts of Devon and Cornwall which is in the south-west of England. It's very nice countryside down there. It is a place, if you live outside of the UK, where retired Londoners live.

The designated wildcats to be reintroduced have been bred by a conservationist and re-wilder whose name is Derek Gow. He has five breeding pairs of cats on his farm in Lifton, Devon which is 5 miles from Bodmin Moor.

The breeding wildcats were given to him by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. He is working with the charity to release dozens of them into coastal scrubland and dense forests.

Mr Gow, 57, said: "animals have a knock-on effect on the ecosystems and wildcat were a key part of that until they were hunted for their fur."

I hope they survive and that they are not persecuted.

It looks likely that lynx will be re-introduced to England

The Eurasian lynx was exterminated from the UK in the Middle Ages about 1300 years ago. It was over-hunted to extinction. We have a moral duty to right that wrong although farmers do not want to see the lynx reintroduced into England or Scotland, for that matter, because they think this handsome wild cat will attack and eat their sheep. Despite the resistance from farmers, there is talk, again, of wolves and lynx being reintroduced into the UK because the project is being backed by the new head of Natural England, Tony Juniper. 

He became chairman of the organisation last year and is much more of a supporter of rewilding than his predecessor. Between wolves and lynx, he said that it is more likely that the lynx will be reintroduced into England at Thetford Forest which straddles the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

Mr Juniper said that he wanted to build on the success of the reintroduction of beavers in Devon and white-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Wight. In November 2018 Michael Gove the then environment secretary rejected an application for the reintroduction of lynx because at that time Natural England objected to it. But things have changed and Mr Juniper wants to study the feasibility of the project partly because it would help to control deer numbers. One of the prey animals of the Eurasian lynx is the deer although it is at the top end of the scale for size.

I've described this cat as the "Eurasian lynx" because I have to, I believe. I'm being more specific because often people refer to it as the "lynx" without specifying the subspecies. The Eurasian lynx is the largest of the three linked species: Canada lynx, Iberian lynx and Eurasian lynx. The bobcat is also within this family of cats. They are medium-sized cats. They aren't that large.

Another reason why there's more optimism about the project is the success in the Netherlands where wolves have crossed the border from Germany, taking up residence in Holland with minimal impact on people and farmers. The Netherlands is also a highly populated country like the UK and therefore there are bound to be concerns about medium-sized predators roaming around the wild freely but it works.

Another place where either or both wolves and lynx might be reduced is the Kielder Forest in Scotland. It would be a wonderful addition to the UK to have a genuine wild species of a decent size in the countryside. I can see tourism in Thetford Forest to see the lynx. Something like tourists visiting tiger reserves in India.