Republic Day: Biodiversity conservation, cheetah theme of CPWD tableau

New Delhi: Bedecked with colourful flowers, the CPWD's tableau at the Republic Day parade depicted biodiversity conservation, including the reintroduction of cheetah in India 70 years after the spotted feline went extinct from the country.

The front part of the tableau showcased Cheetah, the only large carnivore that got completely wiped out from the country in 1952 due to over-hunting and habitat loss.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first batch of eight cheetahs - five females and three males - from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at the Kuno National Park on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year.

The trailer of the tableau depicted species facing threat of extinction including ryle island tortoise, honey bees, butterflies, whooping crane, red squirrel, hornbill and ladybugs. The back-end top of the trailer showed a caterpillar.

The rear end of the trailer depicted the national bird, peacock, which plays an important role in maintaining a balance in an ecosystem.

Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all lives on earth, including humans. Halting biodiversity loss and restoring degraded ecosystems is considered crucial to mitigating the effects of climate change.

India covers 2.4 per cent of the world's geographical area and accommodates 11.4 per cent of the planet's plants (about 48,000 species) and 7.5 per cent of its animal population (about 96,000 species), according to government data from 2011.