How the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary is being developed as India’s second home for cheetahs

The Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary will be the second home for cheetahs in India, after the Kuno National Park. The Madhya Pradesh government has announced that it has completed its preparations for the ambitious project. The final call on when the cheetahs will be imported from Namibia and South Africa will be made after the monsoons, during which the cats may be vulnerable to infection, especially with their winter coats on. What makes Gandhi Sagar an ideal habitat for cheetahs? The sanctuary is spread across an area of 368.62 sq km, in the districts of Mandsaur (187.12 sq km) and Neemuch (181.5 sq km) in western MP, right on the border with Rajasthan. It sits atop a flat rocky plateau, with the Chambal river cutting the sanctuary into two almost equal halves. The Gandhi Sagar dam, constructed on the river in 1960, lies within the area of the sanctuary, and so does parts of its reservoir, 726 sq km large in area and third largest in the country. Due to the rocky terrain and exposed sheetrock, the topsoil is shallow. This is behind Gandhi Sagar’s savanna ecosystem comprising open grasslands interspersed with dry deciduous trees and shrubs. The riverine valleys, however, are evergreen. MP’s wildlife officials say that Gandhi Sagar makes for “perfect” cheetah habitat. “The landscape has much promise. It looks like Maasai Mara [a national reserve in Kenya known for its savanna wilderness and wildlife including lions, giraffes, zebras, hippos, elephants, and, of course, cheetahs]. Gandhi Sagar has the best habitat for the cheetahs [in India] after Kuno,” a senior official told The Indian Express. Officials, in fact, see the potential of expanding the cheetah habitat in Gandhi Sagar to an area of around 2,000 sq km. But that will depend on the coordination between Rajasthan’s Bhainsrodgarh sanctuary, as well as the territorial divisions of Mandsaur and Neemuch. Expanding the core area will rely “heavily on the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to come up with a unified management plan,” officials said. How have officials prepared for the introduction of cheetahs in Gandhi Sagar? But before the introduction of cheetahs, the sanctuary still needed to be “prepared” for their arrival. Currently, an area of 64 sq km has been developed for the cheetahs, at a cost of Rs. 17.72 crores. Wildlife officials have been busy constructing a soft release enclosure (or boma) which, according to them, would “ensure a suitable and secure habitat for the cheetahs upon their arrival”. This enclosure is 1 sq km in area, with four equal partitions. Authorities are also constructing a hospital which would cater to the needs of cheetahs. Moreover, wildlife officials are currently in the process of conducting a comprehensive status assessment of herbivores and predators in the sanctuary to gauge the existing ecological dynamics. The Chairperson of the Cheetah Steering Committee was tasked to oversee and evaluate the overall readiness of the WLS to “ensure that the sanctuary is adequately equipped and prepared to support the successful integration and conservation of cheetahs within its natural landscape”. What is the biggest challenge to making Gandhi Sagar a viable cheetah habitat? In one word: food. For cheetahs to sustainably survive in Gandhi Sagar, the first step is thus prey base augmentation, i.e. increasing the number of animals that the wild cats can prey upon. Male cheetah siblings form coalitions comprising three to five members, whereas females live more solitary lives (unless they are with their litter). On average, a cheetah coalition is expected to make a kill every 3-4 days. According to a Wildlife Institute of India report, “considering the finite growth rate of ungulates to be ~1.33, a population of about 350 ungulates are required for a single cheetah coalition family” (Y V Jhala et al, “Assessment of cheetah introduction sites and proposed action”, 2021). Ungulates are members of a diverse clade of animals, primarily consisting of big mammals with hooves (like deer). “About 1500 chital, 1000 blackbuck, and 350 chinkara should be translocated to Gandhi Sagar… this prey base would suffice for 7-8 cheetah family/ coalition,” the WII assessment said. MP’s wildlife officials told The Indian Express that “prey animals such as chital (spotted deer) and gaurs (Indian bison) have been relocated from Kanha, Satpura and Sanjay tiger reserves to Gandhi Sagar.” But, an insufficient prey base is still an issue in Gandhi Sagar, much like it has been in Kuno. Officials are now pushing for around 5,000 antelopes to be relocated to Gandhi Sagar. This too will have its own hurdles, including “stress related mortalities” during the capturing and relocation process. What are other challenges that cheetahs will face in Gandhi Sagar? Just like in Kuno, the leopard population in Gandhi Sagar will pose a threat to cheetahs, with the two feline predators competing for the same prey, and possibly even clashing with each other in wild encounters. In fact, apart from leopards, the sanctuary has several other co-predators as well, including sloth bears, striped hyenas, gray wolves, golden jackals, jungle cats, Indian foxes, and marsh crocodiles. Moreover, experts have also stressed on the enhancement of protected areas across the region. While the forest department stressed that poaching was not a problem, the 2021 assessment found that despite the reasonably good status of the habitat, ungulate densities are extremely low, perhaps due to meat-eating communities residing in the area. Unlike Kuno, highways and human habitation pass right outside the boundary of the protected area in Gandhi Sagar. How will Gandhi Sagar be developed over time? According to the 2021 report, the “first phase of augmentation should target the section west of the Chambal river so that cheetah reintroduction can commence there as soon as sufficient prey is available”. Wildlife officials too suggested the same, saying that developments within Gandhi Sagar should initially focus on the “Neemuch side of Chambal”. The Chambal river acts as a “barrier to casual movement of wildlife” between the two halves of the sanctuary. At present, the eastern side (Mandsaur side) sees more human activity. The Gandhi Sagar township, housing employees of the hydroelectric project on the dam, is located on the eastern end of the sanctuary. Today, the banks of the reservoir see some agriculture and livestock rearing, with the reservoir itself being used for commercial fishing.