The desert state of Rajasthan has suffered a big jolt and lost a chance to host the fastest animal on the earth –- cheetah. With the Supreme Court recently quashing the cheetah project, the state government has got some relief but the wildlife lovers are disappointed. Ever since Shahgarh bulge area of Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan was selected for developing a house for about 15 Cheetahs, the state government was wary of the proposal as it could affect oil and gas exploration prospects in the region. Oil and gas exploration work is already going on close to that area.
Though the then Union Minister of Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh was interested in the area to be developed as Cheetah hub, with a breeding centre to boot, the state government showed no enthusiasm and even proposed to provide an alternate location in Hadauti region including Kota and Baran district.
In fact, a meeting of wildlife life experts from Wildlife Institute of India and Wildlife Trust of India was held in Gajner area in the year 2009 to finalise sites for relocation of the big cats. The experts had even started zeroing in on Cheetahs from Namibia.
Cheetah was found in Rajasthan in abundant numbers before 1947 when the specie was declared extinct. Apart from Shahgarh, two sites Kuno-Palpur and Nauradehi in Madhya Pradesh were selected for reintroduction of Cheetah in India.
Given this chance, Rajasthan would have hosted three main big cats – tiger, lion and cheetah. While tigers are found in tiger reserves at Ranthambhore and Sariska, lions are present at a rescue centre in Jaipur.
The state is also mulling over the option of developing some area as lion habitat keeping in mind past history when lions roared in the state.
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