Two more Cheetahs – both males brought in from South Africa – have died in five days in Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh, dealing further blow to the ambitious reintroduction project.
The toll of Cheetahs has now gone up to eight – with five adults and three newborn cubs perishing in less than four months. There are now 15 adults and one cub surviving in the park.
Cheetah Suraj – a sub-adult from South Africa released in the KNP on February 18 – was found dead in the Masawani beat of the park on Friday morning, sometime after a monitoring team saw it in a laggard condition, a forest department note said. Prima facie, the cause of death is likely to be the wounds found on the neck and back of the Cheetah, though precise cause will be known only after postmortem, the note said.
Earlier, on July 10, five-and-half-years old Cheetah Tejas, also from South Africa, was found dead. The forest department attributed the death to ‘traumatic shock’ and it was found that Tejas weighed only 43kgs, far less than the average weight of 55-60kgs for Cheetahs of that age. His internal organs were also found to be in bad shape medically.
Deaths of Cheetahs have cast deeper shadows on the ambitious inter-continental translocation project. Eight Cheetahs were brought in from Namibia on September 17 and 12 from South Africa on February 18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the first batch of Namibian Cheetahs with much fanfare at KNP on September 17, which was his birthday.
However, the impact of the translocation and the conditions in KNP, along with the care provided to the Cheetahs is in question as eight Cheetahs including three cubs have perished in 3.5 months.
Three of the four newborn cubs of the Namibian Cheetah Jwala died between May 23 and 25 due to complications arising from low birth weight and extreme heat. Earlier, Sasha, a six-year-old female from Namibia had died on March 27 due to apparent renal infection. On April 23, a male renamed Uday from South Africa died after being seen staggering in his enclosure. Daksha – also from South Africa died on May 9, likely due to injuries sustained during violent mating interaction with two adult Cheetahs, also from South Africa.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has meanwhile again demanded posting of trained wildlife officers to KNP. “The situation in KNP is serious. The laziness of the government in removing the inefficient officers is turning fatal for the Cheetahs. Remove PCCF Wildlife (J.S.) Chauhan, Cheetah project in-charge Uttam Sharma and the district forest officer,” he tweeted.
However, the head of the Cheetah Steering Committee Rajesh Gopal had waived off the apprehensions on adequate space in KNP and proper conservation measures after the committee members’ first visit to the park on May 31. He had told THE WEEK that the arrangements, management and monitoring were satisfactory. He had also said that as much as 6,800 square kms of wilderness is available in and around Kuno, which was quite sufficient for 20 Cheetahs as mentioned in the initial action plan on Cheetah reintroduction.
On the questions being raised about frequent deaths, Gopal had said that the committee looked into the details of the deaths (six till then) and found them to be natural. “They were to be expected, one combat death, death due to illness etc. The only thing is that they came one after another in close duration. But these events are part of the routine,” he had told THE WEEK.
