Cheetah Landscape in India 2024

FOCUS

The Cheetah Landscape in India 2024 is an atlas of the Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape for metapopulation of cheetahs in India. The report was published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in the year 2024.

This atlas lays out an interstate cheetah conservation complex – an area covering approximately 17,000 square kilometres, including 10,500 in Madhya Pradesh and 6,500 in Rajasthan. The landscapes surrounding both Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary abut each other, hence they are referred to as Kuno-Gandhi Sagar (KGS) landscape.

The KGS landscape, is situated in the districts of Sheopur, Shivpuri, Gwalior, Morena, Guna, Ashoknagar, Mandsaur, Neemuch in MP, and Baran, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Kota, Jhalawar, Bundi, Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. Districts of Bhind and Datia in MP, Dholpur in Rajasthan as well as Lalitpur and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh adjacent to this landscape would be incorporated as part of the landscape depending on cheetah’s use of the region.

The atlas carries maps showing the area of the cheetah landscape, potential areas, human disturbances, and more.

Both the Indian Oil Corporation and Hero Honda Motor Corporation are thanked for their support to the cheetah project. The report cites its team from among members of the Ministry of Environment, Forests &Climate Change (MoEF&CC), National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Madhya Pradesh Forest department, Rajasthan Forest department, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and others.

This 42-page document is divided into 5 main sections: Kuno-Gandhi Sagar Cheetah Metapopulation Management Landscape (Section 1); Kuno Cheetah Landscape (Section 2); Gandhi Sagar Cheetah Landscape (Section 3); Actions Required in Kuno-Gandhi Sagar Cheetah Metapopulation Landscape (Section 4); References (Section 5).

    FACTOIDS

  1. The Kuno cheetah landscape is 11,566 square kilometres of forested area, with 8,833 falling in Madhya Pradesh and 2,733 in Rajasthan. Contiguous forested habitat covers an area of about 6,800 square kilometres in it.

  2. The Gandhi Sagar cheetah landscape is 5,450 square kilometres of forested area, of which 3,850 is in Madhya Pradesh and 1,600 is in Rajasthan.

  3. The ungulates and herbivore animals in the area are chital (Axis axis), sambar (Rusa unicolor), nilgai (Boselaphus tragocametus), wild pig, chinkara, blackbuck, langur, rhesus macaque and the Indian porcupine.

  4. One of the actions required in the KGS landscape are effective coordination among forest and other state officials to monitor, offer rapid response, build awareness and sensitisation.

  5. Although it mentions that ‘livelihood of the local communities needs to be ensured’, it speaks only of ex-gratia payment for loss of life and property, not the loss of access to non-timber forest produce. The report offers eco-tourism opportunities as livelihood options for the local populations.

  6. The report also mentions the need for eradication of weed species like Lantana camara, prosopis juliflora and other invasive plants and woody species that reduce the prey base for cheetahs and other endangered species.


    Focus and Factoids by Priti David.

AUTHOR

Qamar Qureshi, Bipin C.M., Nupur Rautela, Dhruv Jain, Bilal Habib, Uttam K. Sharma, G.S. Bhardwaj, Amit Mallick, S.P. Yadav, Rajesh Gopal, Aseem Shrivastav, Subharanjan Sen, L. Krishnamoorthy, Rajesh Gupta, Pawan K. Upadhyay, and Virendra R. Tiwari

COPYRIGHT

National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, and Rajasthan Forest Department

PUBLICATION DATE

TAGS

#environment #forests #animals #cheetah

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