Picture : Twitter/ ANI
The Modi government Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Namibia to bring back cheetahs to India. The Asiatic cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952.
The MoU was signed between Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Namibia Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah.
The plan to bring African cheetahs to India has been decades in the making, and Yadav called the pact “historic” in a series of tweets.
Cheetah as a flagship specie will lead to greater focus on the status of dry-open forest/savanna ecosystems and the need to restore and manage them. Cheetah reintroduction would also greatly enhance local community livelihoods through eco-tourism prospects in the long term.
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) July 20, 2022
Happy to share that India has signed a historic MoU with Namibia to promote Wildlife Conservation and Sustainable Biodiversity Utilization. The MoU seeks to promote conservation and restoration of cheetah in their former range from which the species went extinct. pic.twitter.com/MNVyw8S2eQ
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) July 20, 2022
India had approached Namibia and South Africa to source cheetahs for the introduction plan, which has triggered scepticism among some conservationists.
