New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu will visit Angola and Botswana from November 8 to 13 – and also discuss the translocation of African cheetahs from Botswana to India as part of Project Cheetah, according to an announcement by the Ministry of External Affairs on November 6.Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary of Economic Relations at the Ministry announced this in a press statement.The announcement comes three days after Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said that India would be receiving eight African cheetahs from Botswana for Project Cheetah. A news report by the government-run Akashvani News on November 3 quoted Yadav as saying that the cheetahs would reach India next month (December).Project Cheetah is an ambitious yet controversial translocation project that the Indian government kicked off in 2022. The aim is to populate some of central India’s grassland-savanna habitats with African cheetahs, in lieu of the Asian cheetahs that once used to thrive in such habitats across the country. So far, India has translocated 20 adult cheetahs from two African countries, Namibia and South Africa. Nine of these animals, however, have died due to several reasons including bacterial infections and mating injuries.According to news reports in June this year, Kenya had refused to send cheetahs for Project Cheetah and South Africa too had said it was ‘pausing’ cheetah transfers until it had verified the health status of the cheetahs it had already sent as part of the project.Cheetahs under quarantineThe New Indian Express reported on November 3 that Yadav announced that the government of India had ‘formally struck a deal’ with Botswana to translocate eight African cheetahs to India.The eight cheetahs selected to be transferred are currently already under quarantine in Botswana per the report. On their arrival at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park – where Project Cheetah is currently being implemented – the cheetahs will be quarantined for around three months before authorities release them, like they have released other such cheetahs, into the wild.However, according to The New Indian Express (TNIE), a senior official at the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA, which implements Project Cheetah) raised concerns about the move.Several adult cheetahs brought in from Namibia and South Africa had died because experts had “failed to anticipate the impact of different climatic conditions between the two continents on the cheetahs”, he told the media house.That’s because some experts – including government officials such as S.P. Yadav (who was the Member Secretary of the NTCA) – have said that the cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa developed thicker winter coats (like they usually do in these southern-African countries in preparation for the upcoming cold winter) in the humid and wet monsoon of India. This caused localised skin infections followed by fatal bacterial infections, he had said.Indian officials were considering importing African cheetahs from northern-African countries to overcome this issue, PTI had reported in September 2023.“It seems the government has not learned a crucial lesson from past experiences,” the latest TNIE report quoted the unnamed NTCA official as saying, with respect to the eight new cheetahs that will arrive from another southern African country – Botswana.Pitch for Botswana cheetahsReports of India pitching for cheetahs from Botswana for Project Cheetah came in earlier this year. As per news reports, officials of the NTCA allegedly told the Madhya Pradesh government in April that eight cheetahs would be introduced from Botswana for Project Cheetah. This was to occur in two phases, with four cheetahs arriving in India in May. This, however, has not happened yet.The Madhya Pradesh government press release, according to a report by The Hindu, also said that efforts were underway to bring cheetahs not only from Botswana but South Africa and Kenya too.Meanwhile, reports in July this year claimed that Kenya had refused to send cheetahs to India for Project Cheetah. South African authorities said in July that they too would be ‘pausing’ their transfer of cheetahs to India.News reports noted a South African spokesperson as saying that the country would send additional cheetahs to India only after it reviews the health conditions of the previously translocated animals. South African authorities have also reportedly cited “inadequate communication” between the governments of both countries, the deaths of cheetahs due to extreme weather and the long captivity of wild cheetahs as additional reasons for pausing their transfers.Will CITES be a hurdle?Bringing cheetahs to India from any other country, however, may not be as simple anymore.In the first week of November, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) recommended that India not issue any import permits for wild animals listed in Appendix I of the multilateral treaty until India implements mechanisms to ensure that it follows “due diligence” while issuing such permits.These include looking into the export permits of animals proposed to be transferred to India, the origin of the individuals and more. CITES made this recommendation after a team visited Vantara, the Reliance-owned zoo-cum-rescue center at Jamnagar, Gujarat. The intention of such a recommendation by CITES is to ensure that animals are not caught from the wild and passed off as captive-bred and transferred into India.The cheetah – African or Asian – is an Appendix I species since 1975. Appendix I lists wild animal species threatened with extinction. International trade in these species is generally prohibited, allowed only in exceptional cases like scientific research.This means that the CITES recommendation to not issue import permits will extend to this species too. However it is only a “recommendation” – and not a direct order.India became a signatory to the CITES in 1976.