Overview
- The Gujarat Forest Department released 20 blackbucks into Banni on August 15, transferring five males and 15 females from Vantara’s Jamnagar facility with technical assistance from the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre.
- The transfer followed approvals from the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Central Zoo Authority and included veterinary exams, quarantine, disease surveillance and prescribed wildlife translocation protocols.
- The Banni release is the first operational step in a larger MoEFCC‑approved plan to translocate 500 blackbucks and 100 chinkara across Gujarat to restore native herbivore communities.
- Vantara supplied specialised transport, portable bomas and veterinary teams and has previously supported rewilding work such as the transfer of spotted deer to Barda, showing the state‑private collaboration model being used.
- Officials say next steps are sustained post‑release monitoring, habitat management, scientific population planning and engagement with pastoral communities to reduce conflict and measure whether the effort strengthens prey bases for future cheetah reintroduction.