Project Cheetah Audit Flags Concerns

Syllabus: GS3/ Environment

Context

• A report by the Accountant General of Madhya Pradesh has flagged concerns over the management of Project Cheetah in Kuno National Park, highlighting a “lack of coordination” between central and state government departments.

What is Project Cheetah?

• Project Cheetah is India’s cheetah relocation programme. As part of the project, 50 cheetahs will be introduced in various National Parks over five years.
  • The cheetah was officially declared extinct by the Indian government in 1952.
• In total, 20 adult African cheetahs have been imported so far and were relocated in Kuno National Park.
  • This is the first time in the world that a large carnivore has been relocated from one continent to another.
• The first batch of eight cheetahs arrived in September 2022 from Namibia and another batch of 12 cheetahs from South Africa arrived in February 2023.
• Since their arrival in India, eight adult cheetahs, three females and five males, have died.
  • Seventeen cubs have been born in India, with 12 surviving, bringing the total number of cheetahs, including cubs, in Kuno to 24.

Concerns raised in report

• The audit flagged that there was no mention of cheetah reintroduction in the work plan and management plan, and that there are no documents detailing where the cheetah reintroduction work began and how it started.
• From 2021-22 to January 2024, Rs 44.14 crore was spent on Project Cheetah, which was found to be not in accordance with the approved management plan.
  • Also unjustified expenditure of over Rs 90 lakh was flagged under labor expenses. However machines were used instead of manual labor resulting in higher costs and a loss of employment for local workers.
• The audit found that ground staff and the Kuno Wildlife Division were not involved in the site selection or the cheetah reintroduction study, raising concerns about the planning and coordination at the ground level.
• As per the approved management plan, Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary was identified as the second habitat of Asiatic lions (apart from Gir forest in Gujarat).
  • However, no efforts had been made to reintroduce Asiatic lions.
• The report revealed that the former Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Kuno, was sent to South Africa and Namibia for cheetah management training but was transferred soon after, making his expertise unavailable.
  • The audit labeled this expenditure futile, as the Action Plan mandates trained staff remain at conservation sites for at least five years.

Source: IE