Members of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum sent Minister Barbara Creecy a letter on Friday 24th of February 2023 with regard to the export of South African cheetah to India.
The WAPFSA Members, who signed the letter to Minister Creecy, are concerned that the project to export twelve cheetah from South Africa to India every year for the next twelve years, which is being coordinated by DFFE, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, South African National Parks, the Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative, the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria, the Endangered Wildlife Trust with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, the High Commission of India, National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India and Madya Pradesh Forest Department, is relying on outdated an unpublished non-detriment finding and that the scientific information that this decision was based upon is not sufficiently robust.
The Requests include the following:
- Halt any further capture for export until Minister Creecy publishes for public comment an updated NDF supporting with credible data that similar exports will not be detrimental to the survival of the Species in South Africa. Such NDF will have to follow a public process before being finalised and gazetted as per NEMBA.
- Issue a public statement on the fate of the unfit cheetahs who were swapped and left behind on the 17th of February 2023.
- Provide clarity on the positive conservation outcomes from this project.
- Commit to reporting on the survival rate of the exported cheetahs, on an ongoing basis.
Image Credit: Brian Abrahamson
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