After Namibia, South Africa is preparing to send cheetahs to India, to help the country reintroduce the species on its soil. A project that New Delhi has long dreamed of accomplishing, when the Asian species has disappeared from the territory since 1952 and only some 7,000 animals survive in the wild in the world. Eventually, South Africa plans to send a hundred of its cheetahs to its BRICS partner, despite the criticism surrounding this operation.
With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Claire Bargeles
The first twelve South African cheetahs are to be flown to India in the coming weeks. They will join there, more than 8,000 kilometers from their native country, 8 other felines from Namibia, who arrived with fanfare last September and introduced into Kuno Park on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday.
According to the South African Ministry of the Environment, the aim is to continue to transfer “ 12 per year, over the next eight to ten years. »
An unprecedented operation according to New Delhi, while the Asian subspecies has disappeared from the country for nearly 70 years, following the destruction of its natural habitat and excessive hunting. The two governments highlight the ecological objectives that this reintroduction operation seeks to achieve.
However, the project is controversial, and specialists criticize its cost, i.e. nearly 10 million euros over 5 years, as well as its implementation, considering that cheetahs, a species classified as vulnerable, will have little chance of surviving a once released into the wild on their new home soil.