Jairam Ramesh blames 'vanity' for current tragedy of Cheetah deaths

Congress general secretary and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh slammed the Central government over its handling of Cheetah reintroduction programme, saying that the 'current tragedy' of cheetah deaths could have been avoided had science was put at the forefront instead of vanity and showmanship.

New Delhi: Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday hit out at the government over its handling of the Cheetah reintroduction programme, saying that if science rather than vanity had been put at the forefront of the project "we may not have witnessed the current tragedy". A male cheetah Suraj, translocated from Africa, died at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month.

With Suraj's death, the number of cheetahs that have died at the park in Sheopur district since March this year went up to eight. Taking to Twitter, Congress general secretary Ramesh shared a media report which claimed that Indian wildlife authorities have imposed a gag order on all concerned associated with the cheetah introduction project.

"Stephen J. O' Brien is a distinguished molecular biologist. He is also a dedicated conservationist who uses genetics to protect endangered species. I had spent considerable time with him in 2009 to understand the genetic history of the cheetah. His book makes for fascinating reading," Ramesh said in a tweet.

"If only science had been put at the forefront of the Cheetah reintroduction project in India rather than vanity and showmanship, we may not have witnessed the current tragedy," he said. Instead, the Modi government is busy instituting gag orders on scientists and forest officers, Ramesh alleged. PTI