New Delhi: A male cheetah was found injured in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district on Sunday night, and the MP State Tiger Strike Force is currently investigating the incident. While veterinarians in Kuno have rescued the cheetah and are treating it, the MP STSF and local forest authorities in Morena have not ruled out any possibility, including poaching.
On Sunday night, the cheetah monitoring team in Kuno National Park, tasked with following each of the 16 radio-collared cheetahs out in the wild, found the animal lying still in Morena, a few hours from Kuno. It was injured, had a few marks on its back, and was immediately taken back to the national park for treatment.
The Kuno authorities also informed the Divisional Forest Officer of Morena district, and the Chief Wildlife Warden of MP, Samita Rajora, dispatched the State Tiger Strike Force team on Monday to the scene.
“Morena is a sensitive zone – a few months ago, there were 10 dead leopards found around the same area, and a poaching racket was busted,” Rajora told ThePrint. “I did not want to lose time, and so I immediately sent a team there. We are investigating all possible angles.”
Could this be poaching?
The DFO of Morena, the Chief Conservator of Forests of Gwalior, and the DFO of Sheopur, along with the STSF sent from Bhopal, are investigating the case together. Local activists allege that this could be a case of poaching due to negligence by the Kuno authorities.
“Each cheetah is radio-collared and has its own tracking team, so how did they let it get injured?” questioned Ajay Dubey, a wildlife activist based in Bhopal. “This is pure negligence, and the fault rests with the Kuno National Park authorities.”
Uttam Kumar Sharma, the Field Director of Kuno National Park, said that his team is currently taking care of the cheetah, but is not involved in the investigation process.
“The cheetah was not found within the premises of the park, so legally it is the responsibility of the local forest authorities,” Sharma told ThePrint. “We are currently treating the cheetah in Sheopur, and we will learn the cause of the injury and its health status in a few days.”
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A district of dacoits
Morena, a district in the Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh, is historically associated with dacoits and poaching syndicates, despite recent efforts by the state government. In August 2026, an inter-state poaching network was found to have trapped and killed more than 10 leopards in the district, in a bid to smuggle and sell their skins.
However, Rajora added that there could be other reasons for the cheetah’s injuries too.
“Possibilities include an attack by another animal, attacks by humans not intended towards poaching, or maybe it could have accidentally injured itself,” said Rajora. “But given the sensitivity of the area, we wanted to be cautious and sent our team there immediately.”
Currently, there are 59 cheetahs in India, of which three are in the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary while the others are in Kuno National Park. This year, 7 cheetahs have died in the country due to various reasons, including prolonged illness and attacks by other animals. While the Kuno National Park authorities are responsible for the cheetahs within the Park, often when the animals stray out, other local authorities too get involved.
“The Kuno authorities cannot be running around everywhere. We treat animal protection as a landscape-based approach, where every local forest department is responsible,” explained Rajora. “Every department should be aware of what is happening in their jurisdiction.”
(Edited by Janaki Pande)