Another cheetah in India’s Kuno National Park dies taking the toll to a whopping nine

A recent tragic incident in India’s Kuno National Park resulted in the death of another cheetah, bringing the total toll to nine within just five months. The park authorities reported that a post-mortem examination was being conducted to determine the cause of death for the female cheetah named Dhatri (Tiblisi).

The unfortunate loss of nine cheetahs, including three cubs, occurred in Madhya Pradesh state’s national park. In September of the previous year, the park had reintroduced 20 adult cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa, and four cubs were born there.

In the past month, two male cheetahs, Tejas and Suraj, lost their lives in quick succession. There were media reports claiming that the cause of death was infections possibly caused by their radio collars during excessively wet weather. However, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change dismissed these claims as “unscientific.”

An autopsy revealed that Tejas suffered from a “traumatic shock” after a violent altercation with a female cheetah. Various deaths and injuries among the cheetahs have been attributed to inter-group conflicts and health issues such as renal and cardiac failure.

Experts from South Africa and Namibia, who are part of the national cheetah project steering committee responsible for the cheetah translocation to India, expressed their deep concern in a joint letter to the Supreme Court. They raised serious issues about the project’s management, stating that better monitoring and timely veterinary care could have prevented the deaths if their expertise had been valued and incorporated.

The letter highlighted problems with the current project management, particularly the lack of scientific training among the management team and the disregard for the opinions of foreign experts. The experts from South Africa and Namibia also criticized the project’s lack of transparency and failure to include them in important discussions and decision-making processes.

The letter further revealed that the foreign experts had to request information from Kuno National Park and expressed disappointment in their treatment as mere “window dressing” for the project.

In conclusion, the cheetah deaths in India’s Kuno National Park have raised concerns about the management of the national cheetah project and the need for better coordination and incorporation of expertise to prevent such tragedies in the future.