(Image source from: Indiatoday.in)
On Tuesday afternoon, another cheetah met its demise in the Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh. This unfortunate event marks the tenth death since the reintroduction of cheetahs in India in 2022. The cheetah, named Shaurya, hailed from Namibia. The official statement regarding the incident mentioned that the cause of death will be determined after the post-mortem examination.
To date, a total of seven adult cheetahs and three cubs have perished in the national park. These deaths have been attributed to various infections. The Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Director of the Lion Project released a statement providing details on Shaurya's passing. According to the statement, around 3:17 PM on January 16, 2024, the cheetah passed away. Earlier in the morning, at approximately 11 AM, the tracking team noticed signs of incoordination and a staggering gait in Shaurya. Consequently, the team tranquilized the animal and discovered weakness upon examination.
Following the revival of the cheetah, complications arose, and despite attempts at CPR, the animal failed to respond. The statement mentioned that the exact cause of death will be determined through the post-mortem examination. The most recent death prior to this occurred on August 2 of the previous year, making it the ninth cheetah fatality in Kuno. In the parliament, the government cited infections caused by insects during the monsoon season as the cause for the last two deaths. It is worth noting that cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952.
In 2022, large feline species were once again introduced to Kuno park after being acquired from foreign countries. The cheetahs arrived in two separate shipments, with the first batch originating from Namibia in 2022 and the second from South Africa in 2023. Unfortunately, out of the 10 cheetahs brought in from abroad, all of them have tragically perished at Kuno. This distressing trend began on September 17 of the previous year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the arrival of a group of cheetahs from Namibia by placing them in an enclosure at Kuno.
Since then, the park has witnessed the birth of four cubs. However, within a five-month period concluding in August, three of these cubs and six adult cheetahs succumbed to death. The most recent fatality was reported today, marking the tenth loss in total. This issue of multiple deaths even reached the Supreme Court last year, but the court ultimately concluded that the central government's efforts to reintroduce cheetahs in India should not be questioned.
