Kutch: The Union government on Friday granted approval for Gujarat’s proposal to establish a cheetah breeding centre in Banni grasslands here, as announced by Gujarat’s Minister of Forests and Environment, Mulubhai Bera.

The proposal, submitted by the Gujarat government to the National Compensatory Forestation Fund Management Authority under the National CAMPA, received approval from the executive committee of the National CAMPA. Minister Bera expressed that the cheetah breeding centre in Kutch’s Banni grasslands aims to revive the presence of cheetahs in the wild, as they were once native to this region but became extinct.

While historical records indicate cheetah hunting in Saurashtra and Dahod until 1921 and mentions of their presence in Gujarat until the early 1940s, wildlife experts caution that the reintroduction of cheetahs in Kutch, particularly, poses significant challenges. They highlight the need for an adequate prey base in Kutch, emphasising that the Gujarat government must establish breeding centres and introduce suitable prey before bringing cheetahs to the area.

Sources reveal that Banni grasslands were identified as one of the suitable sites for cheetah conservation when Project Cheetah was first implemented, with five sites initially considered in the country. In the meantime, the Union Forest Ministry and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had prepared a sanctuary for the conservation of the Asiatic lion at Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh. However, as the project to shift Asiatic lions from Gir to Kuno Palpur faced obstacles, permissions were secured to introduce cheetahs in the sanctuary. Later, after the successful introduction of cheetahs in Kuno Palpur, two additional sites, one in Gujarat and one in Rajasthan, were considered for their breeding.