AHMEDABAD: The Centre has filed a petition in the apex court seeking
review of its order dated April 14, 2013, directing translocation of
Asiatic Lions to Kuno-Palpur in Madhya Pradesh. The review petition,
however, only pertains to shifting cheetahs to India from Africa.
The Supreme Court in its order on translocation of lions had observed:
"At this stage, in our view, the decision taken by the ministry of
environment and forests for introduction of African cheetahs first to
Kuno and then Asiatic lion, is arbitrary...a clear violation of the
statutory requirements provided under the Wildlife Protection Act. The
order of MoEF to introduce African Cheetahs into Kuno cannot stand in
the eye of law and the same is quashed."
The MoEF, during the
argument, had made reference to a study conducted by WII and Wildlife
Trust of India on the programme to reintroduce cheetah in Kuno, on
import from Namibia. The member of the Cheetah Reintroduction Group
Divyabhanusinh Chavda said, "We have gone in for the review of the order
only for the cheetah reintroduction part." He added that Rajasthan
government had already refused for taking up the project.
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has prepared a Rs 260-crore
project for cheetah reintroduction. Nauradehi in MP, along with Banni in
Gujarat, are some of the areas under consideration if the Supreme Court
permits the import.
A Gujarat forest official said that
cheetahs need open spaces. "They are comfortable in grasslands and Banni
seems to be the best suited place in Gujarat. Besides, it also includes
the Kalo Dungar area, which has a good number of jackals," added an
official.
At present, Banni has a prey base of 14 animals per
sq km. If the government decides to give cheetahs to Gujarat, the forest
department would immediately start breeding chital and sambhar deers in
the area to increase the prey base, an official said. Cheetahs need a
prey base of around 30 animals per sq km.
On the other hand, a
Cheetah Reintroduction Group official said that the main hindrance in
Banni was the weed called gando baval (Prosopis Juliflora) which covers
large parts of the area. Removing the weed would be a major challenge
for Gujarat, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment