Project Cheetah: Audit report flags ‘lack of coordination’ between Central, MP Govt deptts

 

 

A REPORT by the Accountant General of Madhya Pradesh has flagged concerns over the management of Project Cheetah in Kuno National Park, highlighting a “lack of coordination” between Central and State Government departments. The report also revealed that despite the arrival of cheetahs from Africa, the park’s management plan for 2020-2030 has no mention of cheetah reintroduction. When asked about these concerns, the chief conservator of forests and director of the Lion Project, Uttam Sharma, said they had provided responses to the auditors but declined to share specific details. “It’s a routine exercise which is conducted in several phases. Any action, if required, will be taken after the completion of the entire process,” he said. The audit, covering the period from August 2019 to November 2023, found that ground staff and the Kuno Wildlife Division were not involved in either “site selection” or “cheetah reintroduction study”.

 

The report, obtained under the Right to Information Act, said the Kuno Sanctuary was originally identified as a second habitat for Asiatic lions. “However, no effort has been made for the reintroduction of Asiatic lions till November 2023,” it said. S P Yadav, the director general of the International Big Cat Alliance, told PTI last week that natural geographic isolation is occurring among Asiatic lion populations in Gujarat and there is currently no need to translocate them. The audit report said, “There was no mention of cheetahs in this management plan... Therefore, the expenditure of Rs 44.14 crore incurred on Project Cheetah from 2021-22 to 2023-24 (till January 2024) was not in accordance with the approved management plan.” According to the report, the auditors could not find any records clarifying “under whose instructions the cheetah reintroduction work began”.