Cheetahs were hunted into extinction 75 years ago in India, making them "the only large mammal that India has lost," said a conservation expert in the country. "It is our moral and ethical responsibility to bring them back." On Saturday that responsibility was fulfilled, with eight cheetahs being shipped to the country from Namibia via a Boeing 747. They'll undergo a month-long quarantine and will reside in Kuno National Park as part of what the New York Times calls a "great untried experiment for the world: whether a top predator population can be brought back to life in a place where" it has long-since been wiped out. It marks the first time cheetahs have been transported from one continent to another, reports the Guardian.
The eradication of cheetahs extends beyond India: The Washington Post reports they've gone extinct throughout all of Asia, with the exception of Iran, though CNN notes that country's adult population numbers only 12. The world's cheetah population, which has dwindled to an estimated 7,100, otherwise lives exclusively in Africa. The plan is to import roughly 50 cheetahs over the next few years, but not everyone is on board with the plan.
Conservation scientist Ravi Chellam explains to the Post that cheetahs have a low population density, with roughly one animal per 38 square miles. (Indeed, the Times reports "in ideal conditions [cheetahs] spread out over thousands of square miles.") By Chellam's calculations, Kuno National Park can house eight cheetahs at most, and there are concerns they could clash with leopards residing in the park. (More cheetahs stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
