Namibian cheetahs off to India
• Overnight flight charted
The aircraft has been modified to allow cages to be secured in the main cabin, but will still allow vets full access to the cats during the flight.
Ellanie SmitWINDHOEK
The reintroduction of cheetahs into India will finally become a reality when eight cheetahs are flown from Namibia today on an 11-hour flight to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park.
A Boeing 747 jumbo aircraft already touched down at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Wednesday to fly the cheetahs to India, which have been extinct in that country for 70 years.
According to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), its staff will travel with the cheetahs to deliver the three males and five females, all between two and five-and-a-half-years-old. Namibia is donating the first eight cheetahs as part of a multi-year agreement to help conserve the species through India’s Project Cheetah. The CCF said the mission to move the cheetahs will begin this afternoon, with a transfer from the CCF Centre to the airport.
“After a brief ceremony to acknowledge Namibia’s donation and the significance of the mission, the cheetahs will be loaded onto a private B747 jet. The plane will fly overnight and land in Jaipur, India, by daybreak.”
Non-stop flight
According to the CCF, the aircraft has been modified to allow cages to be secured in the main cabin, but will still allow vets full access to the cats during the flight.
It is an ultra-long-range jet capable of flying for up to 16 hours, and so can fly directly from Namibia to India without a stop to refuel, an important consideration for the well-being of the cheetahs, the fund said.
The animals will be transferred from Jaipur to Kuno National Park by helicopter.
“There, they will be welcomed into their new home by India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, who will open the gates to the sanctuary created for the cheetahs on Saturday, a date that also marks his 72nd birthday,” the CCF said.
Strong founder population
The cats have all been vaccinated and fitted with a satellite collar, and have been kept in isolation at the CCF Centre in Otjiwarongo.
The fund said the cheetahs were selected based on an assessment of health, wild disposition, hunting skills and ability to contribute genetics that will result in a strong founder population.
“Conservation of species requires global cooperation. For more than 12 years, I have consulted with the government of India and their scientists on how to bring cheetahs back to the landscape, and now, it is happening,” Dr Laurie Marker, founder and executive director of CCF, said.
“The goal of our project is to reverse the tide for cheetahs to slow and then stop their decline, while at the same time increasing the biodiversity and health of Indian ecosystems,” Dr Jhala Yadvendradev, dean of the Wildlife Institute of India and principal scientist for Project Cheetah, added.
Peter Katjavivi, Speaker of the National Assembly and CCF’s international patron, said the Indian project is something every Namibian can take pride in.
“We are helping to create a conservation model that can be used by other African nations and former range states around the world to save a species.”
The reintroduction of cheetahs into India will finally become a reality when eight cheetahs are flown from Namibia today on an 11-hour flight to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park.
A Boeing 747 jumbo aircraft already touched down at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Wednesday to fly the cheetahs to India, which have been extinct in that country for 70 years.
According to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), its staff will travel with the cheetahs to deliver the three males and five females, all between two and five-and-a-half-years-old. Namibia is donating the first eight cheetahs as part of a multi-year agreement to help conserve the species through India’s Project Cheetah. The CCF said the mission to move the cheetahs will begin this afternoon, with a transfer from the CCF Centre to the airport.
“After a brief ceremony to acknowledge Namibia’s donation and the significance of the mission, the cheetahs will be loaded onto a private B747 jet. The plane will fly overnight and land in Jaipur, India, by daybreak.”
Non-stop flight
According to the CCF, the aircraft has been modified to allow cages to be secured in the main cabin, but will still allow vets full access to the cats during the flight.
It is an ultra-long-range jet capable of flying for up to 16 hours, and so can fly directly from Namibia to India without a stop to refuel, an important consideration for the well-being of the cheetahs, the fund said.
The animals will be transferred from Jaipur to Kuno National Park by helicopter.
“There, they will be welcomed into their new home by India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, who will open the gates to the sanctuary created for the cheetahs on Saturday, a date that also marks his 72nd birthday,” the CCF said.
Strong founder population
The cats have all been vaccinated and fitted with a satellite collar, and have been kept in isolation at the CCF Centre in Otjiwarongo.
The fund said the cheetahs were selected based on an assessment of health, wild disposition, hunting skills and ability to contribute genetics that will result in a strong founder population.
“Conservation of species requires global cooperation. For more than 12 years, I have consulted with the government of India and their scientists on how to bring cheetahs back to the landscape, and now, it is happening,” Dr Laurie Marker, founder and executive director of CCF, said.
“The goal of our project is to reverse the tide for cheetahs to slow and then stop their decline, while at the same time increasing the biodiversity and health of Indian ecosystems,” Dr Jhala Yadvendradev, dean of the Wildlife Institute of India and principal scientist for Project Cheetah, added.
Peter Katjavivi, Speaker of the National Assembly and CCF’s international patron, said the Indian project is something every Namibian can take pride in.
“We are helping to create a conservation model that can be used by other African nations and former range states around the world to save a species.”
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