New Committee To Keep Watch On Cheetah Project
Context:
The Centre on Thursday created a new steering group made up of national and international specialists to oversee the execution of Project Cheetah in response to the deaths of three cheetah cubs this week.
Points to Ponder:
- Background: The Centre acted after three cheetah cubs perished at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, India.
- Steering Committee Appointment: To manage Project Cheetah, a new steering committee known as the Cheetah Project Steering Committee has been established
- Rajesh Gopal, the secretary-general of the Global Tiger Forum, will serve as the committee’s chair. He previously worked on Project Tiger and was a member of the India Forest Service.
- The committee’s primary duties include keeping tabs on the cheetah reintroduction program’s development, providing advice to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, deciding whether to allow ecotourism in the cheetah habitat, suggesting relevant rules, and figuring out how to involve the neighbourhood in project activities.
- The group will hold at least one meeting each month for the duration of its two-year existence. The participants will also go on field trips to Kuno National Park.
- Members of the committee: There are 11 people on the committee. Members include professionals from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Wildlife Institute of India, and the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, among others.
- International Experts: Members of the committee also come from Namibia and South Africa and have worked on the cheetah translocation project. These professionals include Vincent van dan Merwe, manager of the Cheetah Metapopulation Project at The Metapopulation Initiative (South Africa), Laurie Marker from the Cheetah Conservation Fund (Namibia), Andrew John Fraser from Farm Olievenbosch (South Africa), and Adrian Tordiffe, a veterinary wildlife specialist from the University of Pretoria (South Africa).
