Are vast enclosures, like at Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary, the ideal home for cheetahs?

India Today

01-05-2025

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav, on April 20, released two male cheetahs from Kuno National Park—six-year-olds Prabhas and Pavak—into a large enclosure at the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in Neemuch district.The release marked the creation of a second home for the cheetahs that had arrived from Namibia and South Africa beginning September 2022. Four more cheetahs from Botswana are expected to be released at the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in the coming months, followed by another four.advertisementSo, does the release of cheetahs into a large fenced enclosure mark a paradigm shift in their conservation? So far, the cheetahs were kept in relatively smaller 5 sq km enclosures—further divided into smaller sections—specially built at Kuno. From these enclosures, the cheetahs are being gradually released into the wild.So far, 16 out of the 24 cheetahs have been released into the wild; the remaining eight remain in enclosures. The cheetahs in the Kuno wild are monitored round the clock by dedicated teams, yet they are known to stray out of the reserve, throwing wildlife managers in a tizzy.
Visuals of cheetahs venturing into human habitations located outside the Kuno reserve are routine, and more recently there was an instance of a cheetah being pelted with stones after it had killed livestock.advertisementThe cheetahs in Kuno are also known to have crossed the inter-state border. They were tracked down and brought back. 'There are concerns among wildlife managers about free-ranging cheetahs, and enclosed spaces seem safer and more practical options for these wild cats,' said an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer.In that respect, the 64 sq km enclosure at Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary offers just that—a larger enclosed space in which cheetahs can breed. While this enclosure is fenced on three sides, the fourth boundary is formed by the backwaters of the Gandhi Sagar dam. The enclosure has been subdivided into 15.4 sq km sections into which the two male cheetahs were released.Cheetahs Prabhas and Pavak travelled a distance of almost 300 km from Kuno to the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in a specially designed vehicle. Preparations for the enclosures created at Rampura Pathaar had been on for some months.Besides fencing work, around 500 cheetal or spotted deer were released into the enclosures to augment prey base. Since the cheetahs have been living in India for some years now and making their own kills, they weren't quarantined before release into the enclosure.'The cheetahs will be kept in the enclosure, which is adequately stocked with prey base. If needed, more prey species can be introduced,' said Sanjay Raykhere, divisional forest officer, Mandsaur.advertisementDuring a pre-release meeting on April 18, which was attended by Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav, it was decided to train 400 'cheetah mitra' from 80-odd villages in Sheopur district at the Bhopal-based Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM). 'Cheetah mitra' are volunteers meant to help protect the wild cats outside the reserve and raise awareness among local populations about the benefits of having cheetahs in the region.The Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary is spread over 368 sq km in the Mandsaur and Neemuch districts. The landscape available around the sanctuary for the cheetahs, in fact, extends to some 2,000 sq km.Subscribe to India Today MagazineTrending Reel