Project Cheetah Faces RTI, Transparency and Wildlife Management Questions

Project Cheetah , India's ambitious effort to restore the world's fastest land animal to its forests after the species became locally extinct in 1952 , has come under fresh scrutiny following allegations of RTI violations , lack of transparency and procedural lapses in wildlife management. Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has urged the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to order an independent probe, claiming that authorities overseeing the project have withheld key information and violated legal safeguards under the Right to Information Act, 2005 .

Launched on September 17, 2022 , Project Cheetah marked the return of the species to India with the translocation of eight African cheetahs from Namibia , followed by 12 more from South Africa in February 2023. Managed by the NTCA in partnership with the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, the programme has achieved notable milestones, including the birth of the first wild cheetah cubs in India in over seven decades , while plans are underway to expand the initiative to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary .

In a letter to the NTCA, Dubey alleged that local project authorities have systematically denied public access to animal welfare records, veterinary data and administrative expenditure , making the project's governance "legally untenable." He also claimed that Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Uttam Kumar Sharma served both as the Public Information Officer (PIO) and the First Appellate Authority (FAA) for RTI applications. According to Dubey, he received a reply to an RTI application in 2024 from Sharma as the PIO, while a subsequent communication last month identified the same official as the FAA, a practice he described as a violation of the RTI Act's requirement for an independent appellate mechanism.

The activist further alleged that authorities repeatedly invoked Sections 8(1)(a) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act—provisions relating to national security, foreign relations and privacy—to deny information that should ordinarily be available for public scrutiny. He argued that, unlike Project Tiger , where the NTCA routinely publishes Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), mortality statistics and post-mortem reports , similar records relating to Project Cheetah have remained inaccessible.

Dubey also raised concerns over the repeated tranquillisation of cheetahs at Kuno National Park , citing a September 2024 inspection report by then Chief Wildlife Warden V.N. Ambade , which recorded 110 tranquillisation procedures within two years of the project's launch. He alleged that several procedures were conducted without mandatory prior approval under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 , and sought an independent investigation into all tranquillisations carried out during 2024. While tranquillisation is routinely used for radio-collaring, veterinary care and animal relocation, wildlife experts caution that repeated immobilisation can expose cheetahs to physiological stress and anaesthesia-related risks, making strict adherence to protocols essential.