Wildlife translocation programmes

GS Paper 3

 Syllabus: Environment, Conservation

Source: DTE

Context: According to a new study, efforts to translocate wildlife must incorporate human-related factors, and biological and environmental considerations to realise the desired outcomes.

Wildlife translocation:

• It is the intentional movement of animals for conservation purposes – a technique to mitigate the loss and depletion of endangered species.
• It requires planning, a detailed analysis of the habitat, and consideration of the long-term prospects for the survival of the released animals.
• The ecological, economic, and societal consequences of the release are also taken into account.

Advantages:

• An important conservation tool for restoring threatened and endangered wildlife
• To meet the goal of re-establishing populations in formerly occupied areas.
• Population balancing – shifting from high/overpopulation to low population regions.

 Risks associated:

• Legal and policy issues
• Disease concerns
• Stress to the animal: Translocation, unlike dispersal, is not due to natural or deliberate behaviour.
• Homing: It refers to an animal’s capacity to travel back to its original catch site after translocation.

 The success/failure of translocating wildlife depends on –

• Which species is being shifted;
• Whether it can survive in its new habitat and breed successfully;
• The amount of time and resources being allocated to the process.
• Anthropogenic angle/coexistence with people.

 The failure of a translocation programme can lead to –

• Distrust between stakeholders;
• The loss of resources and
• Even the extinction or extirpation of entire populations or species.

Case of India –

• The ongoing Project Cheetah of the GoI: It has suffered setbacks recently. Two cheetahs (one from South Africa and the other from Namibian) brought to MP’s Kuno National Park from South Africa died of cardiac and renal failure.
• The Gaur Relocation in India (2011): The project saw the first reversal of local extinction in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (MP), with 19 Gaurs coming here from Kanha Tiger Reserves (MP).

Need of the hour – Importance to be given to anthropogenic angle:

• The IUCN Global Re-Introduction Perspective Series identifies the relationship between the inclusion of human dimension objectives in wildlife translocation efforts and programme outcomes.
• Of the six key strategies identified for including human dimension objectives, education was the most common, followed by
  • Engaging locals,
  • Providing economic benefits,
  • Increasing social tolerance,
  • Enforcing regulations and
  • Supplying cultural benefits.

Global efforts – ICTC:

• International Conservation Translocation Conference (ICTC) is a premier conservation translocation science event, linked to the IUCN.
• This helps the government/policymakers to learn from global experts how to best plan and implement conservation translocations.

Conclusion:

 The problem with India’s Project Cheetahs is that the species is being translocated from entirely different countries and ecosystems. Therefore, proper scientific study must be conducted before executing the project.

Insta Links: Cheetah project to bring in 12 big cats from South Africa