From NOTICE News Daily for April 4, 2023
How four adorable cheetah cubs are making history in India.
TRANSCRIPT
When you think of a cheetah’s natural habitat, you probably think of the African continent, and you’d be correct. But did you know they used to inhabit parts of Asia as well?
The Asiatic cheetah went extinct in India in 1952, but 70 years later, they actually might be making a comeback.
For much of the 1900s, India was under British colonial rule.
During that time, forests across India were cleared to make room for settlements and plantations, destroying the cheetah’s natural habitats.
India has recently made plans to house 50 cheetahs in one of their national parks over the next 5 years.
The governments of Namibia and South Africa have agreed to donate dozens of these big cats to India every year,
And last week, the first 4 cheetah cubs were born on Indian soil.
The 4 cubs along with 20 adults are being closely monitored in the national park to ensure they acclimate to their new home safely.
An Indian environmental official called the birth a quote “momentous event in our wildlife conservation history,” but big cats are still under threat worldwide.
For example, a century ago as many as 100,000 tigers lived in the wild, but today there are fewer than 3200 of them in their natural habitat.
Lions, in the last century, have lost 80 percent of their range and their population is only 15 percent of what it was.
This attempt to reintroduce cheetahs to India marks a significant moment for conservation efforts worldwide.
