This month, wildlife rangers in Kuno National Park in central India spent 10 days on the path of Dhatri, a Namibian cheetah. When they lastly caught up along with her within the forest, they made a grotesque discovery. She was lifeless, her physique infested with maggots that had burrowed via neck wounds round her radio collar.

Dhatri was one in every of 20 cheetahs transported to India from southern Africa final yr and personally launched into the park by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a part of a grand experiment: to reintroduce the species to the nation greater than 70 years after they had been declared extinct there, hunted into oblivion underneath British colonial rule.

To supporters, “Project Cheetah” is a landmark conservation effort that, if profitable, might present a world blueprint for reviving animal populations and ecosystems. Modi has touted the challenge as a supply of status that neatly mirrors his authorities’s said ambition of restoring India to pre-colonial glory.

But it has taken an alarming flip. Nine cats — together with three cubs born in India — have died of causes from malnutrition to collar infections that critics blame on inexperience, mismanagement and the federal government sidelining consultants.

Now even longtime champions warn that Project Cheetah, a long time within the making, is in jeopardy. Jairam Ramesh, a former surroundings minister from the opposition Congress get together who pursued the initiative whereas in workplace, final month blamed the animals’ deaths on the federal government placing “vanity and showmanship” earlier than science.

“This is the first intercontinental translocation of a carnivore,” mentioned Yadvendradev Jhala, former head of the Wildlife Institute of India who helped spearhead the challenge however was eliminated this yr. “The whole world is looking at this . . . We can’t afford to fail.”

Authorities had anticipated that half of the unique 20 cheetahs would die inside a yr of being launched into the wild from hazards resembling poaching and leopard assaults, which have been documented in Africa.

But not less than a number of the deaths have occurred earlier and from causes that might have been prevented if authorities acted sooner, consultants mentioned. Scientists consider that Dhatri and two different cheetahs developed deadly sores round their collars after heavy monsoon rains made their fur waterlogged.

A gaggle of South African scientists affiliated with the challenge final month alleged in a letter to India’s Supreme Court that they had been being “ignored” and “had to beg for information”, in keeping with Indian media.

“It’s certainly a matter of concern for the whole country, and for all people involved in conservation, that there are so many deaths,” mentioned MK Ranjitsinh, a celebrated naturalist appointed by the Supreme Court to observe the challenge. Ranjitsinh mentioned the federal government had not consulted him or different consultants on the deaths. “The cheetah management should be on the expertise of the experts and not on the basis of bureaucratic hierarchy.”

Laurie Marker, the Namibia-based head of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which helped convey a number of the cats to India, additionally wrote to the Supreme Court asking the authorities to enhance transparency.

Modi’s authorities has dismissed the criticism. “Every cheetah is our responsibility [and] we share our opinion with the experts from Namibia and South Africa,” Bhupender Yadav, the surroundings minister, informed reporters this month. “We are engaged in this project with full seriousness.”

Aseem Shrivastava, a forest official overseeing the challenge in Madhya Pradesh, added that the cheetahs had died from “natural reasons”.

The surviving cats have been relocated to giant enclosures for nearer monitoring, he mentioned, and could be re-released after approval from a government-appointed knowledgeable committee.

The reintroduction plan has all the time divided conservationists, with supporters saying it will mobilise funding into reviving habitats whereas critics argue that authorities ought to prioritise India’s current wildlife.

Valmik Thapar, a naturalist, goes additional, arguing that historic information from current centuries recommend India’s cheetahs weren’t indigenous however unique pets saved by royals for searching.

“We have lovely, rich wildlife left in pockets of India that require money to save,” he mentioned. “Why would anyone want to reintroduce, or introduce . . . cheetahs to such unfriendly terrain, at a huge multimillion-dollar cost?”

Many communities round Kuno hope the newfound consideration will convey much-needed improvement.

Prakash Jatav, whose village close to the nationwide park is lined with cheetah posters, final yr bought two acres of land for about 3 times what it was price earlier than. A resort is being constructed throughout the road. “If all goes well with the cheetahs, the prospects for this place will grow,” he mentioned.

But he added that the challenge’s rocky begin had scared off extra buyers. Kuno missed a goal date to open to vacationers in February. “People have developed cold feet about buying land here now,” he mentioned. “The sanctuary project must succeed. If it fails, we are doomed.”

For others, the initiative has been a bitter expertise. In preparation, authorities relocated dozens of villages from contained in the forest that was principally residence to marginalised tribal populations.

Residents of Bagcha, the final village to be moved earlier this yr, now reside on an open plain close to the park. They had been compensated with land and money however mentioned their new location was much less appropriate for cultivation.

“There we had a very good life. We had access to a lot of things from the forest,” mentioned Jamuna. “This land is just full of rocks. Our farming is gone.”

Other reintroduction efforts have had some success, resembling lynx in Europe and wild horses in China. Authorities in Cambodia and Kazakhstan are actually exploring reintroducing tigers.

For Project Cheetah to succeed, consultants anticipate New Delhi might want to convey a number of batches of animals earlier than they’ll set up a lot of viable populations.

Marker, the Namibia-based knowledgeable, acknowledged that such schemes had been akin to “playing God”. But with the cats underneath risk in lots of habitats, “one of the solutions is trying to re-establish ranges where the cheetahs once were”, she mentioned.

“There will be a need for more reintroductions of many species. There will be winning in some areas and losing in others,” she added. “Right now, we’re losing in many of the places where cheetahs live.”