India to get more Cheetahs over the years

New Delhi: India is working with South Africa and Namibia for the reintroduction of more Cheetahs in India. Namibia is going to send more over the years, said Laurie Marker, Executive Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, who coordinated the translocation of cheetahs from Namibia to India.

Following the arrival of eight Cheetahs from Namibia to India on Saturday, Laurie Marker said, "Since its extinction, you can only get animals from somewhere else. This is the only population of cheetahs large enough to use for reintroduction and to establish a population, we must bring in more. India is working with South Africa for more and Namibia is also going to send more over the years."

Laurie Marker has been a key advisor to the Indian government on the cheetah relocation projects for 12 years. "Saving the cheetah means changing the world. Yesterday, we started this process with the cheetah touching Indian soil after 70 years of extinction.

Their extinction was human-caused, and their survival is in the humans' hands", she added. Answering a question on Cheetah's adaptability to the Indian habitat, Lauri Marker highlighted the history of the country as being home to this fastest animal on land.

She also stressed the fact that the government was planning the cheetah translocation since it was declared extinct. A firm step was taken when a team of specialists from the government and Forestry department presented a plan in 2009. She expressed her hope for the success of the plan and also accepted that there are chances of disappointment as well.

As the eight cheetahs were released in the forest of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, Indian High Commission in Namibia also tweeted to applaud the effort of the team from Namibia in the project.