The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) confirmed on Sunday that two cheetahs — KP2 and KP3, among the first generation of cubs born in India to African cheetahs translocated in 2022 — have dispersed from Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh to Baran district in Rajasthan, covering a distance of 60 to 70 kilometres. Both cheetahs are radio-collared and being monitored round the clock by a joint inter-State team. The NTCA described this as “natural territorial behaviour” consistent with long-distance dispersal patterns documented in cheetah ecology, and cited the development as reinforcing the strategic rationale for the proposed 17,000-square-kilometre Kuno-Gandhi Sagar meta-population landscape corridor spanning seven Rajasthan and eight Madhya Pradesh districts.
Simultaneously, nine new cheetahs from Botswana arrived on February 28 — making Botswana the third African country to contribute animals after Namibia and South Africa — bringing the total number of adult cheetahs translocated to India since September 2022 to 29. Of these, nine adults have died, raising survival rate concerns. Twenty-eight cubs have been born in India, and approximately twelve have died.
💡 Get AI-powered exam prep on your phone!
For UPSC aspirants, Project Cheetah is among the most examination-relevant wildlife management topics in recent years. It raises questions about rewilding science, inter-State wildlife governance, the legal framework for species translocation, India’s international conservation diplomacy, and the ecological carrying capacity of designated landscapes.
Table of Contents
Background and Context
Five Important Key Points
- The cheetah became extinct in India in 1952, following decades of hunting by Indian royalty and habitat loss; the last three cheetahs in India were reportedly shot in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh by the Maharaja of Surguja.
- Project Cheetah officially commenced on September 17, 2022, when PM Modi released eight Namibian cheetahs at Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, making India the first country to translocate an apex predator across continents as part of a formal reintroduction programme.
- As of March 2026, 29 adult cheetahs have been translocated from Africa (Namibia, South Africa, and now Botswana), nine have died, 28 cubs have been born in India, and approximately 12 cubs have died, yielding a complex picture of mortality management challenges alongside reproductive success.
- The KP2 and KP3 dispersal to Rajasthan is ecologically significant because it demonstrates that India-born cheetahs are displaying the long-distance territorial behaviour characteristic of the species — a key indicator that the reintroduction is producing behaviourally functional animals, not merely captive-dependent ones.
- The proposed 17,000-sq.km. Kuno–Gandhi Sagar inter-State wildlife corridor spanning 15 districts across two States represents the most ambitious inter-State wildlife corridor planning exercise in India since the Tiger Corridor Programme, requiring coordination between two State forest departments, NTCA, MoEFCC, and local community stakeholders.
Legal and Institutional Framework
Project Cheetah operates under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (as amended), specifically under Section 38 which governs the Central Zoo Authority, and Section 35 which covers National Parks. The reintroduction is implemented under the authority of the NTCA, a statutory body constituted under the WPA through the 2006 amendment, and the MoEFCC. The Project Cheetah Action Plan, prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and approved by the Supreme Court following its 2022 ruling that lifted a decade-long injunction against cheetah translocation, provides the scientific and operational framework.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed in 2020 that an African cheetah could be introduced on a trial basis in a suitable habitat in India, overturning its earlier 2012 direction that had required African cheetahs from Namibia rather than Asiatic cheetahs from Iran. India’s diplomatic efforts to obtain Asiatic cheetahs from Iran — the only surviving Asiatic cheetah population, with fewer than 50 individuals — were unsuccessful, and the project proceeded with African cheetahs on the basis of sub-species proximity.
Scientific and Ecological Dimensions
The Asiatic-African cheetah distinction remains a point of scientific debate in the rewilding community. African cheetahs belong to the subspecies Acinonyx jubatus jubatus, while the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is a distinct subspecies that once ranged from India to the Middle East. Critics of Project Cheetah have argued that introducing African cheetahs constitutes ecological substitution rather than true restoration. Proponents argue that the ecological function of the cheetah as an apex cursorial predator is more important than subspecies precision, and that the genetic diversity of African cheetahs makes them more suitable for a founder population.
The mortality rate — 9 of 29 adults, or approximately 31% — has raised concerns about disease management, territory conflict, and human-wildlife interface management. Several deaths have been attributed to septicemia, kidney failure, and injury, suggesting that the health surveillance and veterinary protocols require strengthening. The birth of 28 cubs, however, demonstrates reproductive adaptation to the Indian landscape and provides optimism about long-term population viability.
Inter-State Governance and Corridor Policy
The KP2 and KP3 dispersal to Rajasthan has placed the inter-State corridor question at the centre of Project Cheetah’s next phase. The proposed 17,000 sq.km. Kuno-Gandhi Sagar meta-population landscape requires both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to coordinate on land use planning, community engagement, human-wildlife conflict protocols, and forest department patrolling. India does not currently have a formal legal mechanism for inter-State wildlife corridor management — the WPA and the Environment Protection Act, 1986 both operate within State jurisdictions. A dedicated inter-State wildlife corridor policy, potentially modelled on the National Waterways Act’s inter-State framework, is urgently needed.
The Project Cheetah Action Plan explicitly anticipates inter-State movement and provides for a meta-population management approach. However, the Plan’s provisions require translation into formal Memoranda of Understanding between State governments, shared data protocols, and community compensation frameworks for livestock losses.
India’s International Conservation Diplomacy
Project Cheetah has elevated India’s standing as a conservation diplomacy actor. India’s agreements with Namibia (2022), South Africa (2023), and now Botswana (2026) for cheetah transfers are framed as bilateral conservation partnerships under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) framework and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). India is currently a party to both conventions. The Project also aligns with India’s commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022), which includes targets on species restoration and area-based conservation.
Way Forward
The NTCA must expedite the formalisation of the Kuno-Gandhi Sagar corridor through a binding inter-State agreement, supported by a joint forest management council. Mortality management must be strengthened through dedicated cheetah health task forces with 24-hour veterinary response capacity. The Project should expand beyond Kuno and Gandhi Sagar to include feasibility assessments for a third site — potentially Rajasthan’s Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve — to reduce concentration risk. Community stewardship programmes modelled on the Joint Forest Management framework should be established in the corridor landscape, providing livelihood incentives for local communities who serve as informal sentinels for cheetah movement.
Relevance for UPSC and SSC Examinations
UPSC: GS-III (Conservation; Environmental pollution and degradation; Environmental impact assessment; Important species and habitats); Essay (Wildlife conservation, rewilding, biodiversity).
SSC: General Awareness (Environmental science, wildlife conservation, national parks, CITES, Project Cheetah).
Key Terms: Project Cheetah, Kuno National Park, NTCA, Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Acinonyx jubatus, Meta-population, Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, CITES, CMS, Kunming-Montreal Framework, WII, Inter-State wildlife corridor, Section 38 WPA.