Botswana has acceded to a request by India for a donation of cheetahs, and will duly be donating eight of these elusive cats to Asian nation. This was revealed by the minister of environment and tourism, Wynter Mmolotsi during a meeting with delegation from the National Tiger Conversation Authority (NTCA) of India led by the High Commissioner of India to Botswana.
According to Mmolotsi, due to restrictions of CITES Appendices, the first batch of four cheetahs will be delivered in 2025 and the last batch of four will be delivered in 2026 after assessment of how the first batch would have acclimatised in the new environment.
“Botswana has stable populations of iconic wildlife species inclusive of the cheetah, and we believe our population of cheetah can support the minimum number of eight, which India has requested. Our country also has the largest African elephant population in the world. This remarkable achievement reflects our commitment to conservation,” he said.
He stated that Botswana has over the years earned international accolades for her sterling efforts to conserve and manage her wildlife resources, noting that this hard won reputation is the result of the implementation of wildlife policies that stretches back several decades and that continues to this day. The minister has highlighted that Botswana is home to an extraordinary variety of wildlife, and we take immense pride in being recognized globally for our conservation success.
According to him, the land set aside for wildlife conservation is 40% of the country’s surface area, comprising of National Parks (18%) and Wildlife Management Areas (22%), this includes forest reserves.
He acknowledged the Indian Government’s request for donation of cheetahs and for identifying Botswana as one of the countries that can support the implementation of project cheetah that aims to re-introduce cheetahs in their historical range in India.
“The ministry acceded to the call by the Government of India to support this project because we see India as an ideal partner to work with in the conservation and management of big cats,” he said.
Mmolotsi emphasized that India is known for its robust species specific initiatives such project tiger and cheetah which aim to restore the population of these species in India through global collaboration with governments, conservationists, and NGOs, this has resulted to India been a global leader in tiger conservation.
As a pro sustainable use country, Mmolotsi indicated that Botswana sees India as an alliance in the wildlife conservation space because of similar natural resources conservation policies that promote protection and sustainable utilisation practices.
“Botswana is home to an estimated population of 1,694 cheetahs. Cheetahs are widespread across Botswana at low densities throughout country. Cheetahs predominantly occur outside protected areas, to avoid high predator competition inside the protected areas especially with the lions. Outside-protected areas cheetahs face a high risk of human-cheetah conflict and often get killed in the process. Our Cheetah population is free ranging,” he said.
