Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Lebanon: Israeli occupation forces carried out an explosion in the southern border town of Kfar Kila
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.

8 Namibian cheetah relocated to the Indian wild to avoid extinction

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 17 Sep 2022 15:52
3 Min Read

The Indian commissioner to Namibia calls this initiative "historic, global first and game-changing" in an attempt to revive the natural habitat for those it calls home, such as the Asiatic cheetah.

  • x
  • Namibian cheetahs (Cheetah Conservation Fund)
    Namibian cheetahs (Cheetah Conservation Fund)

As part of a project to restore the presence of wild cheetahs after their close extinction three decades ago, officials and vets stated that eight Namibian cheetahs were airlifted to India as a donation from Namibia, after being transported from a game park north of the capital of Windhoek on Friday and put aboard a chartered Boeing 747 labeled “Cat plane” for an 11-hour flight to India. 

The five females and three males, aged between two and five-and-a-half and each fitted with a satellite collar, are due to be welcomed and received by the prime minister, Narendra Modi on his 72nd birthday on Saturday, when he will open the gates of Kuno national park, a new sanctuary created for the cats to be placed in, 320km south of New Delhi - as the region is known for its abundance in grassland and prey.

The Indian high commissioner to Namibia, Prashant Agrawal, announced that the initiative is the world’s first inter-continental translocation of cheetahs known to be the world’s fastest land animal and whose ancestors date back about 8.5m years, adding: “This is historic, global first – game-changing, we are all the more excited because it is happening in the 75th year of Indian independence.”

The initiative has been cooking for more than a decade since the 1990s according to the statement to AFP by Dr. Laurie Marker, founder of the Namibia-based charity Cheetah Conservation Fund, however, critics warned that the Namibian cheetahs may face a struggle in adapting to and surviving in the Indian habitat given the significant number of leopards already present.

Related News

Subatomic particle wobbling could pave way for fifth force of nature

Hate those birds singing in the morning? They may be good for you

Dr. Marker added: “Cheetahs are very adaptable and [I’m] assuming that they will adapt well into this environment, so I don’t have a lot of worries.”

As India was once home to the cheetah but was declared extinct there by 1952 mainly because of habitat loss and hunting for their distinctive spotted coats, the endangered subspecies, known to have also been found in the Middle East, and Central Asia, is now only found in Iran, although in very small numbers. According to the head of the Iranian environment department in May, an Asiatic cheetah gave birth to three "healthy" cubs in Iran - the first time in captivity for the endangered species.

The reintroduction of the cheetah has been attempted since 2020 following a supreme court announcement that the African native cheetahs could be transported to a “carefully chosen location” on an experimental basis. Negotiations have been circulating for similar translocation from South Africa, per a government official on Friday, with vets suggesting 12 cats could be relocated.

It is commonly believed that an Indian prince, the Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo, killed the last three recorded cheetahs in India in the 1940s and today approximately 7,000 remain, primarily found in the African savannas, and are listed globally as “vulnerable” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species - while in North Africa and Asia it is “critically endangered”.

Still, their existence and survival are under threat due to deforestation, natural habitat diminishment, and loss of prey due to human hunting and climate change.

  • Nature
  • Cheetahs
  • India
  • namibia
  • Narendra Modi
  • Asiatic cheetah

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025
The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

A Palestinian youth stands on a hill overlooking IsraelI Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP)
Politics

77 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 7

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference with US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Tuesday, August 26, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy Barrack calls Lebanese journalists 'animalistic"'

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)
Politics

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS