Who Was Vincent van der Merwe, Key expert in India’s Project Cheetah Found Dead in Riyadh

Dubai: South African cheetah conservationist Vincent van der Merwe, known for his key role in India's Project Cheetah, was found dead in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday (March 16). According to sources, the 42-year-old conservationist died by suicide.  

Van der Merwe’s body was discovered in the hallway of his apartment building with a head injury. CCTV footage reportedly showed him falling and striking his head on the floor. His sudden death has shocked the conservation community, especially those involved in cheetah reintroduction efforts across Africa and Asia.

Who Was Vincent van der Merwe?  

Born in 1983 in South Africa, Vincent van der Merwe dedicated his life to wildlife conservation. As the director of The Metapopulation Initiative (TMI), he played a critical role in managing and expanding cheetah populations in fragmented habitats. His efforts helped improve genetic diversity and ensure the survival of the species in reserves across Africa.  

Van der Merwe was also leading Saudi Arabia’s project to reintroduce cheetahs, a species that had gone extinct in the region more than 50 years ago. Just last week, he had extended his contract in Saudi Arabia for another year, making his sudden death even more unexpected.

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His Role in India’s Project Cheetah  

One of van der Merwe’s most high-profile projects was India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction program at Kuno National Park. In 2022, he oversaw the relocation of cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa to India, a project that had been years in the making.  

The initiative, approved by India’s Supreme Court in 2020 and later by the governments of Namibia and South Africa, aimed to restore cheetahs to the Indian subcontinent, where they had been declared extinct in 1952. However, the project soon faced challenges as some cheetahs in the unfenced park died from various causes, while others escaped into surrounding villages and farmland.  

Despite the setbacks, van der Merwe remained committed to the project, emphasizing that relocating cheetahs from South Africa was necessary due to the country’s surplus population.