Three months ago, two young cheetah brothers in Limpopo were running free in the Waterberg biosphere. By Friday night they were flying to India.
The pair were the wildest of 12 cheetah darted on Friday morning in preparation for South Africa's first transnational relocation of cheetah to India, where they became extinct in 1947.
The first brother to be darted took a long time to go down. Eventually it lay flat in the grass but, every time a vet approached, stumbled to his feet snarling. Two doses later, the pair were loaded onto stretchers with their paws flopping over the sides. Vets prepared them for their trip to OR Tambo and flight on an Indian military plane across the ocean.
The pair were among seven males being flown with five females to a state in central India, where it is hoped cheetah numbers will increase within their historical range of the species.
Besides these two, there was a third from the Waterberg, three from Tswalu Kalahari Reserve (Northern Cape), three from Phinda Game Reserve (KwaZulu-Natal), two from Kwandwe Game Reserve (Eastern Cape) and one from Mapesu (Limpopo).
“This project will be a success if two of the females survive and reproduce,” said Vincent van der Merwe, manager of the Cheetah Metapopulation Project in Southern Africa.
About 60% of relocated cheetahs die before they breed as they are vulnerable to competing predators such as lions, leopards and hyenas. “We have selected the most predator savvy to go to India,” said Van der Merwe.
South Africa has relocated cheetah to other African countries, but this is the first transcontinental project. The 12 arrived safely at their new home in India on Saurday.
“South Africa has the only growing wild cheetah population worldwide and surplus of cheetah,” said Van der Merwe.
“In India, cheetah have the potential to be a flagship species in driving open-system ecological restoration and it represents an opportunity to expand the metapopulation (a managed population in private reserves) to our goal of 1,000 individuals,” he said.
Rooiberg vet Andrew Fraser has been looking after the animals in Limpopo since July, making sure they did “not get fat or lazy”.
Nevertheless, the reintroduction of cheetah to India, which started in September with the relocation of eight animals from Namibia, is risky and controversial.
On Thursday night, 12 scientists published correspondence in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution in response to criticism, supporting the reintroduction despite its challenges.
Flora Mokgohloa, deputy director-general of the department of forestry, fisheries & environment, said: “Our team has been to India to assess the area to which they will be relocated and has deemed it suitable.”
Their new habitat resembles that of Phinda, said a top Indian official who came to Limpopo for this “historic transnational relocation”.
Dr Amit Mallick, inspector-general of the National Tiger Conservation Authority in India, said: “We do have immense expertise (in big cats). India is home to more than 70% of the world's white tiger population."
In India, cheetah have the potential to be a flagship species in driving open-system ecological restoration
— Vincent van der Merwe, Cheetah Metapopulation Project
But the cheetah will have a staggered release — to ensure they are healthy and hunting — and be exposed initially only to leopard and hyena. Unlike South Africa, India has wilderness reserves without fences, where animals such as tigers and elephants range freely.
Mallick said: “In India, they will all be open range and we have been raising awareness among communities and in schools that the cheetah are coming."
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