MP-Rajasthan joint panel formed for coordination on cheetah project
Bhopal: A ten-member joint committee comprising forest officers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan has been constituted to suggest measures for development and management of the cheetah corridor between the two states.
The panel, headed jointly by Principal Chief Conservators of Forest (PCCFs) (wildlife) of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, has been assigned the task of identifying the ‘Cheetah Conservancy Landscape’ in the corridor for the safe movement of the felines between Madhya Pradesh and the neighbouring state of Rajasthan, a senior forest officer told this newspaper here on Wednesday.
An interstate meeting of forest officers, held on September 29 to discuss the development and management of a cheetah corridor between the two states in the wake of frequent straying of the felines from Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh to Rajasthan forests led to the constitution of the committee.
A cheetah from KNP had strayed into Karoli district in Rajasthan in May this year.
Another cheetah from KNP had moved out of the park and entered Baran district in Rajasthan in December, 2023.
Both the cheetahs were brought back to KNP later.
“The committee will prepare a long-term strategy for the development and management of the cheetah corridor for the safe movement of the felines between the two states”, the forest officer said.
According to an official notification issued here, the committee will discuss and formulate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for a feasibility study for corridor development and management for the movement of cheetah in the cheetah conservancy landscape to be identified by it.
The committee has also been asked to study the possibility of joint tourism routes in the National Chambal Gharial sanctuary, covering both the states, and areas that are adjacent to each other in both the states including KNP in MP and Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan.
The committee would suggest measures for capacity building of officers and frontline staff with reference to monitoring, patrolling, and other measures required for managing cheetahs straying out from Kuno through the existing corridors to Rajasthan.
The committee will also recommend measures for habitat improvement including grassland development and prey base augmentation in the areas suitable for future migration of cheetah from Kuno or Gandhi Sagar sanctuary, the proposed second home for cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh.
Eight cheetahs from Namibia were brought to KNP in a first ever intercontinental translocation of carnivores under cheetah introduction project in September 2022.
Four months later, 12 more cheetahs were brought to KNP from South Africa.
After the death of some cheetahs and the birth of cubs, KNP now has 24 cheetahs including 12 cubs.