The Wildlife Institute and Wildife Trust of India have recommended three sites as the best places to re-introduce 18 cheetah into India.Scientist Dr Y V Jhala of the Wildlife Institute of India, reports that, mainly due to overhunting, the cheetah is India’s only large carnivore to have been eradicated from the country and have not been seen since 1967. Experts have decided to redress the balance for both ecological as well as ethical reasons; it is thought that the cheetahs will play a large role in restoring India’s grasslands and creating an ecological balance.
Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment and Forests compared this function to that of other large cats: ’the way tigers restore forest ecosystems, snow leopards restore mountain ecosystem, the cheetah will restore grasslands’
Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Shahgarh Landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan have been recommended as sites for reintroduction, sites that have been selected following detailed reports on their abundance of prey, forest resources and local community’s attitudes towards wildlife
It is also expected that the reintroduction program is likely to boost tourism in these areas, benefitting local communities.
Read the full article at Wildlife Extra News
No comments:
Post a Comment