Jaipur/Kota, Oct. 7 -- Wildlife activists in Hadoti have stepped up their demand for Rajasthan to be formally brought into Project Cheetah, arguing that repeated movement of cheetahs from Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park into Rajasthan should be treated as a conservation opportunity rather than a management problem. "Cheetahs are coming to Rajasthan on their own. We will not let them be taken back," one of the activists said, requesting anonymity. The demand gained momentum after female cheetah Veera spent an extended period in Baran before being tranquilised and taken back to Kuno. Wildlife activists and intellectuals from the region recently met forest officials and submitted a memorandum seeking a policy change under which cheetahs that naturally enter Rajasthan and remain in suitable habitats are allowed to stay under scientific monitoring. The delegation met RN Meena, divisional chief conservator of forests, and T Mohan Raj, chief conservator of forests, Wildlife Circle, and urged the department to start preparations for cheetah conservation, particularly in Baran and Chittorgarh. Environmental activist AH Zaidi said cheetahs crossed from Kuno into Rajasthan on several occasions and that areas such as Bhainsrorgarh and Shergarh could provide suitable habitat. Zaidi and other wildlife activists said that if a cheetah enters Rajasthan again, they would oppose its return to Kuno and seek discussions with the forest and other concerned departments to ensure that the animal is allowed to remain in the state under specialised monitoring and care. "Instead of taking the cheetahs back every time they enter Rajasthan, we need to understand why they are coming here and whether the landscape can support them," they said. They argued that administrative boundaries should not determine the movement of a species whose natural behaviour is to disperse over large areas. The issue is also gaining significance because the Centre's own cheetah conservation framework envisages an interstate landscape. The NTCA has identified the approximately 17,000-sq-km Kuno-Gandhi Sagar cheetah landscape, with around 10,500 sq km in Madhya Pradesh and 6,500 sq km in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan component covers Baran, Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar, Chittorgarh, Karauli and Sawai Madhopur. In March, the NTCA said the movement of India-born cheetahs KP-2 and KP-3 from Kuno into Baran represented "natural territorial behaviour" and reinforced the rationale for the proposed interstate wildlife corridor. The two animals had travelled around 60-70 km from Kuno and were being monitored through GPS and radio collars by teams from both states. Wildlife activists said repeated tranquillisation should be avoided wherever there is no immediate threat to animal or people. Dr Sudhir Gupta, convener of 'Hum Log' group, said Veera's prolonged movement in Rajasthan should be viewed as an opportunity to develop the state's own capacity to manage free-ranging cheetahs. "Rajasthan is building its own cheetah habitat. The cheetahs are coming on their own, yet we are tranquilising them and sending them back. This approach needs to change," Gupta said, adding forest personnel in Hadoti should be trained to track and manage free-ranging cheetahs and Rajasthan should be brought into Project Cheetah soon. T Mohan Raj said, however, responsibility for the cheetahs currently remains with Kuno until an arrangement between the two states is formalised. "Till an MoU between the two states is signed, the complete responsibility of the cheetah remains with Kuno National Park. We can only assist," he said. Raj said Kuno teams have specialised equipment, including radio-collar tracking systems, to monitor the animals' movements. He added a cheetah earlier entered Shergarh sanctuary under his jurisdiction, remained there for three to four days and then returned on its own. The debate comes against the backdrop of the proposed Kuno-Gandhi Sagar interstate corridor. The landscape was designed as a metapopulation conservation area, allowing cheetahs to move between habitats rather than being confined to individual protected areas. The NTCA has specifically said that long-distance dispersal across landscape boundaries is a natural behaviour in cheetahs. Wildlife groups want Rajasthan to move beyond merely responding when cheetahs cross the border and begin preparing for their presence by assessing habitat and prey availability, training field staff and developing protocols for human-wildlife conflict. For them, Veera's movement has therefore become a larger test of Project Cheetah: whether conservation will follow the animals' natural movement across an interconnected landscape or continue to bring them back whenever they cross an administrative boundary....