PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Conserv. Sci.
Sec. Animal Conservation
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2025.1605871
Beyond Rhetoric: Debunking Myths and Misinformation on India's Project Cheetah
Provisionally accepted
Sanath Krishna Muliya1*
Vaibhav Chandra Mathur2,3Hemant Singh2,3Abhishek Kumar2,3Sanjayan Kumar2,3Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj2,3- 1National Zoological Park & National Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Dehli, India
- 2National Tiger Conservation Authority, Delhi, India
- 3Project Tiger, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Delhi, India
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India's Project Cheetah, initiated in 2022, represents a holistic wildlife conservation initiative aimed at restoring cheetah populations, reviving grassland ecosystems, and fostering socio-economic benefits in the region. Despite its strong ecological foundation and adherence to IUCN protocols, the project has faced persistent criticism, often rooted in ideological biases, oversimplified extrapolations, and sensationalized narratives. Critics have misrepresented key aspects, such as the use of soft-release bomas, ethical concerns, and veterinary interventions, while ignoring the project’s adaptive management strategies and measurable progress, including its current status. This perspective piece counters misinformation with factual evidence, highlights the project’s scientific and conservation merits, and underscores India’s commitment to harmonizing ecological restoration with developmental progress.
Keywords: cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), Conservation translocation, grasslands, India, Project Cheetah, species introduction. 2
Received: 04 Apr 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Muliya, Mathur, Singh, Kumar, Kumar and Bhardwaj. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sanath Krishna Muliya, National Zoological Park & National Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Dehli, India
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