Has the curtain quietly fallen on India’s long-drawn plan to give Asiatic lions a second home in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park? The signs suggest so.
A recent notification by the Madhya Pradesh forest department (dated July 30) has officially renamed Kuno’s “Lion Project” as “Cheetah Project”. The post of project director has also been re-designated as “Field Director, Cheetah Project, Shivpuri”. This seemingly simple change has sparked speculation that lions may no longer roar in Kuno, a relocation project that has been hanging in the balance for over three decades.
Officials, however, insist otherwise. Additional chief secretary (forest) Ashok Barnwal told The Times of India (TOI) that this was “procedural restructuring” and no posts had been scrapped. Another senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested the renaming was intended to “ease international communication”, as Kuno is now globally identified with the cheetah reintroduction programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022.
A project three decades in the making
The idea of moving lions beyond Gujarat dates back to the 1980s, when wildlife experts warned that Gir sanctuary alone could not safeguard the species. Extensive field studies by the Wildlife Institute of India identified Kuno, in Sheopur district, as the most suitable site.
In April 2013, the Supreme Court ordered Gujarat to part with some lions and directed the Centre to establish Kuno as a secondary habitat. But successive Gujarat governments resisted, calling Gir lions the state’s “pride” and questioning Kuno’s suitability. Despite the apex court dismissing Gujarat’s review and curative petitions, the lions never arrived.
The reluctance, a mix of ecological reasoning, politics, and prestige, left the Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project tangled in red tape, expert reviews, and committee visits.
The rise of the cheetah
Meanwhile, cheetahs, extinct in India since 1952, have become the new star attraction at Kuno. In September 2022, the first batch of African cheetahs arrived from Namibia and South Africa. Since then, Project Cheetah has overshadowed the original lion plan.
The Madhya Pradesh government’s own audit last year noted that “cheetahs were not part of the Kuno management plan”, originally designed to host lions between 2020–21 and 2029–30. It bluntly added: “No efforts had been made towards reintroduction of lions, as of November 2023.”
The audit also flagged missing reports from a three-member Supreme Court-appointed committee that was meant to submit four-monthly surveys on suitable habitats. Without these reports, auditors said, it was impossible to verify the information presented to the apex court.
For now, lions remain confined to Gir, while cheetahs have taken centre stage in Kuno. Though officials maintain that the lion project has not been formally scrapped, the renaming of posts and projects indicates where the real focus now lies.
What was once envisioned as a “roar for conservation” may well have been quietly replaced by the “sprint of revival”.
Inputs from TOI
A recent notification by the Madhya Pradesh forest department (dated July 30) has officially renamed Kuno’s “Lion Project” as “Cheetah Project”. The post of project director has also been re-designated as “Field Director, Cheetah Project, Shivpuri”. This seemingly simple change has sparked speculation that lions may no longer roar in Kuno, a relocation project that has been hanging in the balance for over three decades.
Officials, however, insist otherwise. Additional chief secretary (forest) Ashok Barnwal told The Times of India (TOI) that this was “procedural restructuring” and no posts had been scrapped. Another senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested the renaming was intended to “ease international communication”, as Kuno is now globally identified with the cheetah reintroduction programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022.
A project three decades in the making
The idea of moving lions beyond Gujarat dates back to the 1980s, when wildlife experts warned that Gir sanctuary alone could not safeguard the species. Extensive field studies by the Wildlife Institute of India identified Kuno, in Sheopur district, as the most suitable site.
In April 2013, the Supreme Court ordered Gujarat to part with some lions and directed the Centre to establish Kuno as a secondary habitat. But successive Gujarat governments resisted, calling Gir lions the state’s “pride” and questioning Kuno’s suitability. Despite the apex court dismissing Gujarat’s review and curative petitions, the lions never arrived.
The reluctance, a mix of ecological reasoning, politics, and prestige, left the Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project tangled in red tape, expert reviews, and committee visits.
The rise of the cheetah
Meanwhile, cheetahs, extinct in India since 1952, have become the new star attraction at Kuno. In September 2022, the first batch of African cheetahs arrived from Namibia and South Africa. Since then, Project Cheetah has overshadowed the original lion plan.
The Madhya Pradesh government’s own audit last year noted that “cheetahs were not part of the Kuno management plan”, originally designed to host lions between 2020–21 and 2029–30. It bluntly added: “No efforts had been made towards reintroduction of lions, as of November 2023.”
The audit also flagged missing reports from a three-member Supreme Court-appointed committee that was meant to submit four-monthly surveys on suitable habitats. Without these reports, auditors said, it was impossible to verify the information presented to the apex court.
For now, lions remain confined to Gir, while cheetahs have taken centre stage in Kuno. Though officials maintain that the lion project has not been formally scrapped, the renaming of posts and projects indicates where the real focus now lies.
What was once envisioned as a “roar for conservation” may well have been quietly replaced by the “sprint of revival”.
Inputs from TOI
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