Modi's cheetah project faces challenge as Rajasthan community protests feeding them endangered deer

It was only last weekend that India celebrated the return of the locally extinct cheetahs, the world's fastest animal, to its territory as eight of them were transported from Namibia. None other than prime minister Narendra Modi released the big cats in Kuno National Park (KNP) in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

But within days, a controversy has come to the fore.

Indian PM Narendra Modi releases wild cheetahs-which had become extinct from India, in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, September 17, 2022. (ANI Photo/PIB)

The Bishnoi community in Rajasthan, a neighbouring state to Madhya Pradesh, has expressed disappointment over the decision to serve 'chital' (spotted deer) to the cheetahs and has also written to Modi about it. The community has said that chitals are also endangered and should be protected. The Bishnois are known for their aggressive stance on protecting wildlife and particularly reveres chitals. They have also threatened to launch a nationwide protest if the government did not reverse its decision.

It has been reported that around 181 chitals are being sent as the cheetahs' food at KNP.

In the letter written to the prime minister, Devendra Bishnoi, president of Akhil Bhartiya Bishnoi Mahasangh, said, "In Rajasthan, chitals are on the verge of extinction and they should be protected. There is no scientific proof that cheetahs are important and chitals are not. Thus this senseless decision of sending chital for the spotted big cats should be reconsidered," a report in Times of India quoted from the letter which was sent on Monday (19).

The letter also said that the Bishnoi community was hurt by the decision. Devendra Bishnoi said the community has been protecting and preserving wildlife for several hundred years now and more than 350 of its members have sacrificed their lives for this.

The community has also planned to discuss the issue at a national-level seminar which will see the presence of Indian vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar. The event will be held at a village in Bikaner in Rajasthan on September 25 and 26.

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Bishnoi, a leader of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, also cited "reports" about deer being fed to the cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh.

"I request the central government to get the matter investigated in view of the species of deer which are on the verge of extinction in Rajasthan and the sentiments of the Bishnoi society. And if the information is found to be true, then it should be stopped immediately," he said in a tweet in Hindi.