As Project Cheetah completes 4 years, big cat population in India rises to 52
Project Cheetah, India's cheetah reintroduction programme, completed four years since the first release of translocated cheetahs into Kuno National Park.
The country's cheetah population now stands at 52, comprising surviving translocated animals and India-born cubs, split mainly between Kuno National Park (Madhya Pradesh) and the newer Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Of the original eight cheetahs brought from Namibia in September 2022, three survive along with a large number of India-born offspring; of the 12 cheetahs brought from South Africa in February 2023, eight survive along with several cubs. A further batch arrived from Botswana in 2026.
The next phase of the programme involves expanding suitable habitat beyond Kuno, developing Gandhi Sagar and other sites into additional release points, and building a long-term, geographically dispersed "meta-population" of cheetahs across central India rather than relying on a single reserve.
Species Reintroduction and Legal Protection Status
Cheetahs are listed under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which affords them the highest level of statutory protection in India, including a near-total prohibition on hunting and trade except under narrowly defined government sanction. The Asiatic cheetah, once native to India, was officially declared extinct in the country in 1952 due to hunting and habitat loss; no viable Asiatic cheetah population survives in India today, with the last remaining Asiatic cheetahs confined to a small, critically endangered population in Iran. Because the original Indian subspecies could not be sourced, Project Cheetah instead introduces the African cheetah (a different subspecies) — a translocation of one subspecies to a habitat historically occupied by another, which has drawn scientific debate over genetic and ecological suitability.
Key Details
- Cheetah is classified "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List and listed on CITES Appendix I since 1975, meaning international commercial trade is prohibited.
- The Supreme Court of India, having earlier blocked a similar African cheetah introduction proposal, permitted an experimental reintroduction in a 2020 order, paving the way for Project Cheetah's 2022 launch.
- Project Cheetah is administered under the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, though cheetahs are a distinct species from tigers.
The four-year milestone and rising population (52) reflect the outcome of this legally sanctioned, NTCA-run reintroduction exercise, testing whether an extinct large carnivore can be re-established through inter-country translocation.
Meta-Population Approach to Conservation
A "meta-population" strategy involves maintaining multiple, geographically separated but genetically and demographically linked sub-populations of a species across different habitats, rather than concentrating an entire population in one location. This reduces extinction risk from localized threats (disease outbreaks, prey shortage, habitat degradation) and allows periodic exchange of individuals to maintain genetic diversity — a standard technique in large carnivore conservation globally, including for African lion and tiger metapopulation management.
Key Details
- India's cheetah action plan originally identified multiple potential sites beyond Kuno, including Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh) and other central Indian landscapes, anticipating the need for a dispersed network.
- Single-site reliance was flagged as a key risk after early cheetah mortalities at Kuno (from causes including radio-collar-related infections and intraspecific conflict).
- Central India's dry deciduous forests and grasslands, unlike the tiger's denser forest habitat, are considered ecologically suited to the cheetah's open-grassland hunting style.
The programme's declared "next phase" — expanding habitat and creating a long-term meta-population — is a direct response to the vulnerability of concentrating cheetahs solely in Kuno, and Gandhi Sagar's current population of a few cheetahs is the first step toward this dispersed model.
- Current total cheetah population in India: 52 (translocated adults plus India-born cubs).
- First translocation: 8 cheetahs from Namibia, September 2022; second: 12 cheetahs from South Africa, February 2023; a further batch arrived from Botswana in 2026.
- Asiatic cheetah declared extinct in India: 1952.
- Global cheetah status: IUCN "Vulnerable"; CITES Appendix I since 1975.
- Cheetahs are Schedule I species under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; Project Cheetah is overseen by the NTCA under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.