Eight cheetahs from Namibia arrived in India on Saturday for their next release into the wild, as part of a project to reintroduce these cats whose species was declared extinct in this region of the world 70 years ago.

According to authorities, this is the first intercontinental relocation of the cheetah, the fastest land animal on the planet.

An ambitious project that, however, divides experts, some of whom are skeptical about its chances of success.

Five women and three men traveled from a wildlife park north of Namibia’s capital, Windhoek, on a chartered Boeing 747 dubbed “the Cat plane”, for the 11-minute flight.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the operation which was held in the Ancient National Park, about 300 km south of the capital New Delhi, an area chosen for its prey and abundant grasslands.

Each animal, aged between two and five and a half, is equipped with a collar that allows its movement to be tracked by satellite.

They will first be kept in cages, for a quarantine period of about one month, before being released into the open forest area of ​​the park.

Some specialists, however, have warned that these mammals may find it difficult to adapt to their new environment.

– Threatened species –

India was once home to the Asian cheetah, but was declared extinct in 1952.

The endangered subspecies that once roamed the Middle East, Central Asia and India are now found in very small numbers in Iran.

Efforts to reintroduce these animals to India accelerated in 2020 when the Supreme Court ruled that the African cheetah, a distinct subspecies, could settle in India in “carefully selected locations” and on an experimental basis.

This is a gift from the government of Namibia, one of the few African countries where this cheetah still lives in the wild.

Negotiations are ongoing for a similar transfer from South Africa, which could involve twelve more cheetahs.

Cheetahs became extinct in India mainly due to the gradual loss of their habitat and hunting for their characteristic spotted fur.

Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo is generally credited with killing the country’s last three cheetahs in the late 1940s.

The carnivorous mammals in the family Felidae, whose ancestors are about 8.5 million years old, cheetahs once roamed Asia and Africa in large numbers, according to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, CCF), located in Namibia.

Only about 7,000 specimens remain today, mainly in the African savanna.

The cheetah is listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species.

In North Africa and Asia, it is “critically endangered”.

Its survival is mainly threatened by the loss of natural habitats and loss of prey due to human hunting, land development for other purposes and climate change.