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PRETORIA: India and South Africa have signed an MoU on Cooperation in the re-introduction of Cheetah to the Asian country.
"In terms of the MoU, an initial batch of 12 cheetahs are scheduled yo be flown from South Africa to India in February 2023. The Cats will join the eight cheetahs brought to India from Namibia in 2022, according to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment on Thursday.
Restoring cheetah populations is a top priority for India, with far-reaching conservation implications. The goal is to achieve a number of ecological goals, including re-establishing the function role of cheetah within their historical range and improving the livelihood options and economies of local communities.
Following the acquisition of the 12 cheetahs in January, the intention is to translocate another 12 every eight to ten years.
"The initiative to reintroduce cheetah to a former range state is being carried out in response to a request from the Government of the Republic of India," the department said.
The department is coordinating this multidisciplinary worldwide effort in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South African National Parks (SANParks), the Cheetah Range Expansion Project, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) in South Africa.
They will collaborate with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) on this project .
"The MoU on Reintroduction of Cheetah to India facilitates cooperation between the parties to establish a viable and secure cheetah population in India; promotes conservation and ensures that expertise is shared and exchanged, and capacity built, to promote cheetah conservation.
"This involves human-animal conflict resolution, wildlife capture and transfer, and community participation in conservation in both nations.
"According to the terms of the MoU, the countries will collaborate and exchange best practises in large carnivore conservation through the transfer of technology, professional training in management, policy, and science, and the establishment of a bilateral custodianship arrangement for cheetah translocated between the two countries," the department said.
The terms of the MoU will be reviewed every 5 years to ensure it remains relevant.
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