JODHPUR district in Rajasthan, which recently captured headlines for beingthe place where the cinestar Salman Khan was arrested forkilling a blackbuck, is all set to become famous forwildlife conservation. The World Wide Fundfor Nature (WWF) will be developing a cheetahbreeding facility at the Machiya Nature Reservenear Jodhpur. Cheetahs were last spotted in Indiain 1960. If the propose is implemented asplanned, cheetahs will be found in Indian forestsin two years' time.
The project will be assisted by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF),Namibia, which will also share knowledge on breeding and conservation ofcheetah. Namibia has a population of around 2,500 cheetah's and the topogra-phy very similar to that of Machiya.
Efforts to reintroduce cheetahs in India began in the 1980s. But it wassoon concluded that India does not anymore possess the habitat or the preyneeded for the survival of cheetah. Onceagain, in 1994, the possibility of reintroducing cheetah in Machiya was discussed by the WWF experts. In the following year CCF director Laurie MarkerKraus visited Jodhpur and concludedthat it had a great potential for sustaining and breeding cheetah due to its location, size, natural habitat and wateravailability.