Goa: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav on Wednesday (October 7) released two cheetahs, Vyom and Neera, into the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve. The releases are part of ‘Project Cheetah’, India’s ambitious cheetah translocation programme that aims to bring in African cheetahs to select grassland habitats in central India. This is the first instance of cheetahs released into a tiger reserve in India.Announcing the release in a post on X, Yadav called it an “important step towards conservation, promotion of wildlife and developing favourable natural habitats for them [cheetahs]”. The reserve is now the country’s third cheetah habitat, after Kuno National Park in Sheopur and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur.The cheetahs were released on the concluding day of ‘Wildlife Conservation Week’. During the event, Yadav also released the ‘Vulture Population Estimation 2026’ report and the poster for ‘Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve’, written in the Bundeli language spoken in central India. “This new home for cheetahs has its own unique characteristics. While we care for our wildlife, it is also our responsibility to care for our villagers,” the CM said in a report by The Print.Both cheetahs were brought from Kuno National Park. “Five soft release bomas (built within the release area to allow cheetahs to adjust gradually to their new environment) have been prepared for them in the Muhali range. Security and monitoring arrangements have been made in an area of about 439 hectares,” field director Rajneesh Singh said according to a report by Hindustan Times.Is it sustainable?Speaking to The Wire, however, Ullas Karanth, Emeritus Director of the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bengaluru and a leading tiger expert, said he did not consider Project Cheetah to be progressing sustainably. “Cheetahs are bred and fed in Bomas with wild prey caught by the hundreds in remote parks. When they try to disperse naturally, staff capture them and bring them back. These animals are also killing livestock and are likely being fed livestock. It is also rumored that some leopards have been caught and removed,” Karanth said. In a report by HT, a South African cheetah expert who refused to be named said it would be a “learning” experience for the cheetahs. “In South Africa, tigers are living with cheetahs at private reserves only. They are not together in the wild. This would be a good experiment to see all three carnivores including cheetah, leopard and tigers together. It would be a learning for cheetahs as well,” the expert said.On the coexistence of cheetahs with other big cats such as lions and tigers, Laurie Marker, founder and executive director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), told HT that cheetahs are accustomed to sharing their habitat with other large predators, including lions. “We do not have the tiger here [in Namibia], but when there are a variety of species, conflict cannot be ruled out. But, they can coexist,” she said.Meanwhile, Karanth believes both tigers and leopards will dominate the cheetahs and if they cannot escape, kill them. He said, “African reserves are ten times more extensive than Indian ones and human population densities (and of domestic dogs) are extremely low.”On survival rateKaranth also said that the presence of predators and human pressures in India could make survival difficult for the reintroduced cheetahs. “Cheetahs have very low survival rates because of dominant predators like hyenas, lions and leopards. I expect leopards, tigers and domestic dogs by the thousands in India will play a similar role,” he added.He contrasted the survival rates of cheetahs with those of other large carnivores, adding, “Typically, for tigers, lions, and leopards, the proportion of wild-born individuals that survive and reproduce is less than 20%. With Cheetahs in Africa, that proportion is lower than 5% because of competing predators like lions, leopards and spotted hyenas, even in nature reserves spanning 10,000-20,000 square kilometres.”Karanth said that while he supports the reintroduction of cheetahs, larger and more isolated landscapes would be needed for the project to succeed. “I fully support India reintroducing cheetahs but only if an area of 5,000-10,000 square kilometres can be cleared of domestic dogs, other large predators and human settlements before the cheetahs are introduced,” he said.India’s cheetah population is currently 60, of which 41 have been born in the country. Authorities, including the Union environment minister, recently celebrated the birth of a new litter to an Indian-born cheetah a few days ago.It was a first for Project Cheetah as an Indian-born female cheetah at Kuno gave birth to five cubs fathered by a cheetah brought from Botswana earlier this year.