The Union Cabinet approved the establishment of International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) with headquarters in India with a one-time budgetary support of Rs.150 crore for a period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
Key points
- The IBCA was formally launched on the occasion of Commemorating 50 years of India’s Project Tiger on April 9, 2023.
- The alliance aims to secure the future of big cats and landscapes they thrive. The pioneering and long standing tiger and other big cat conservation good practices evolved in India may-be replicated in many other range countries.
- Seven big cats include Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar and the Cheetah out of these five big cats viz. Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard and Cheetah are found in India. The cheetah having been translocated under an experimental programme from Africa to Kuno in Madhya Pradesh.
- The International Big Cat Alliance has been conceived as a multi-country, multi-agency coalition of 96 big cat range countries, non-range countries interested in big cat conservation, conservation partners and scientific organizations working in the field of big cat conservation besides business groups and corporates willing to contribute to the cause of big cats.
- IBCA governance consists of Assembly of Members, Standing Committee and a Secretariat with its Head Quarter in India. So far, 16 countries have given their written consent to be part of the IBCA.
