More than seven decades after maharajas and British colonial hunters wiped cheetahs from the Indian landscape, the world’s fastest land animal will sprint back into the country under new conservation plans.
More than a dozen African cheetahs will be moved from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park in central Madhya Pradesh state under an ambitious project to reintroduce the extinct animal in India.
New Delhi has for years been trying to bring the animal to the country while facing reluctance by host nations and a court ban over concerns that the African cheetahs were not fit for life in India. But last year the Supreme Court reversed its ban and allowed the relocation on an experimental basis.
“In the first phase, 12 to 15 cheetahs are likely to arrive later this year or early 2022,” Gaurav Khare, spokesman for India’s Environment Ministry, told The National.
“Over the next four to five years, 40 to 50 are expected,” he said.
The African wild cat’s new habitat is a vast grassland of more than 340 square kilometres, with large open spaces that will allow the animals to show off their speed – they are capable of reaching 120 kilometres per hour.
The guest cats will share their habitat with about 200 Indian leopards and hunt blackbucks and Indian deer.
A huge vaccination campaign is under way in about 400 villages around the park to inoculate stray dogs against rabies and other canine-transmitted diseases to protect the incoming animals.
Asiatic and African cheetahs differ slightly from each other in size and build, but both are impressive athletic animals with sleek frame, long legs, unique teardrop marks and tiny black spots.
Cheetah is a delicate animal, more dog-like. They need open space to run and hunt their prey … they may end up in human settlements and earn a pest value
Dr Rajesh Gopal,
Secretary General of Global Tiger Forum
Cheetahs globally face extinction pressure from climate change, hunting and low rates of reproduction and are classified as vulnerable under the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species.
About 7,000 cheetahs remain in the wild in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Iran.
It is believed India had more than 10,000 cheetahs during the reign of 16th-century Mughal emperor Akbar, with about 10 per cent as hunting stock for the court.
But their population dwindled swiftly by the 1900s because of bounty hunting by British colonisers and local rulers.
The last three cats were hunted down in 1948 by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo, a king in central India’s Koriya region in 1948.
In 1952, the Indian government declared cheetahs extinct in the country.
The species faced a similar fate throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, with only about 50 Asiatic cheetahs surviving in Iran, according to the International Union for Conservation in Nature.
Since the 1970s India made several attempts to reintroduce the Asiatic cheetah from Iran, but Tehran turned down the request because of their own dwindling population of the beasts.
New Delhi then set its eyes on African cats, but the top court banned any relocation in 2012 because the species is foreign to India.
But last January it agreed to the proposal, praising India’s credentials in the conservation of other big cats, including Asiatic lions and tigers.
India’s tiger population has doubled to nearly 3,000 since 2006, when rampant poaching and shrinking habitat had led to a huge decline in numbers.
Asiatic lions have almost doubled since 2005 to about 675 from 359 in 2005.
About 14,000 leopards live in the wild, making India’s conservation a huge success and prompting authorities to push for the import of cheetahs.
But their reintroduction divided the country's wildlife experts, with some saying the endeavour is romantic.
Cheetahs in Africa often enter farmland to prey on livestock, and experts fear that the cats will be under greater threat in India, largely because of a lack of awareness among local communities about its behaviour.
“Bringing any animal sounds romantic but people have not seen cheetahs in decades,” Dr Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of Global Tiger Forum, told The National.
“Cheetah is a delicate animal, more dog-like. They need open space to run and hunt their prey … they may end up in human settlements and earn a pest value," he said.
Dr Gopal said that it was likely that humans may harm the cheetahs in self-defence and the government needs to sensitise and train the local communities to tackle such a situation.
Man-animal conflicts have increased in recent years owing to human encroachments and shortage of food in the wild that forces the animals to search for food in nearby human settlements.
On average more than 200 people are killed by big cats every year and more than double the number of animals, mostly tigers and leopards, are killed by people in India.
Despite these figures, residents near the park say they are not worried about conflict with cheetahs because they have been living in harmony with wildlife for ages.
Locals say that cheetahs will help to boost the region's economy because the animals will attract tourists.
“I have lived my life surrounded by animals, and have even seen leopards at times. We are not scared,” Pramod Ojha, 34, a shopkeeper near the park, told The National.
“We are excited about cheetahs because tourism will increase and help our business,” he said.
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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
Kanye%20West
%3Cp%3EYe%20%E2%80%94%20the%20rapper%20formerly%20known%20as%20Kanye%20West%20%E2%80%94%20has%20seen%20his%20net%20worth%20fall%20to%20%24400%20million%20in%20recent%20weeks.%20That%E2%80%99s%20a%20precipitous%20drop%20from%20Bloomberg%E2%80%99s%20estimates%20of%20%246.8%20billion%20at%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3Cbr%3EYe%E2%80%99s%20wealth%20plunged%20after%20business%20partners%2C%20including%20Adidas%2C%20severed%20ties%20with%20him%20on%20the%20back%20of%20anti-Semitic%20remarks%20earlier%20this%20year.%3Cbr%3EWest%E2%80%99s%20present%20net%20worth%20derives%20from%20cash%2C%20his%20music%2C%20real%20estate%20and%20a%20stake%20in%20former%20wife%20Kim%20Kardashian%E2%80%99s%20shapewear%20firm%2C%20Skims.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
RESULTS
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
The five pillars of Islam
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
