Why India wants African Cheetahs?

India is home to Tigers, Lions, Leopards, Jaguars. All the big cats except one 'Cheetah'. It's not so that the land never had them, but it became extinct due to ruthless hunting sport. Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Princely state Koriya in 1947 shot down the last Cheetah. There wasn't much awareness about biodiversity and its significance in those times. So can the Maharaja be forgiven? Is Being ignorant not a crime?

Nevertheless, India remains bereft of Cheetahs to date. We have lost millions of years of evolutionary progress accumulated in the genotype of the Cheetah. However, the Indian Government has expressed its will time and again with the advent of awareness surrounding biodiversity to reintroduce Cheetahs in the Indian ecosystem.

The Government approached Iran for its Cheetahs, which is the last country to home Asiatic Cheetahs. The deliberations did not result in an outcome due to political instability in Iran and reportedly the unwillingness of India to give lions in return. The Government was especially keen on Asiatic Cheetahs because of their relatedness to the extinct Indian Cheetah.

Failed deliberations with Iran did not deter the adamant Government of India. India now has considerations going on with Africa to bring African cheetahs instead. The process has been successful so far. The Supreme Court has given the nod, the habitat here assigned, and soon the Cheetahs would land here.

Why is the Government of India so keen to bring Cheetahs in the first place? The whole idea of getting Cheetahs is symbolic. If Cheetah flourishes in this land, then India would become the only country in the world with all the big cat species. But should we interfere with nature to gain symbolic prowess? We need to pause and introspect. Is it the right thing to do? Are not we playing with mother nature yet again? India's forests have been bereft of Cheetahs for good sixty years now. And the ecosystem is adapted to it. Introducing an African Cheetah would now be similar to introducing an alien species with no natural predator here. This step could harm both the ecosystem of India's forests and African Cheetahs. Maybe rather than spending millions on bringing an alien species from another continent, we should focus on conserving what we have left with us.

 It reminds me of a quote, " We were so busy thinking what we can do, we didn't think of what we should do."