New Delhi: A 19-month-old cheetah cub found injured in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena on Sunday has died while undergoing treatment, forest department officials said Tuesday. While the department has yet to officially confirm the cause of the cub’s death, officials said that four metal pellets were retrieved from its body, hinting at a possible poaching attempt.
“We cannot confirm if this was a case of poaching yet, but this definitely points towards some kind of human involvement,” a forest official told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
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.
On Monday, the male cub was shifted to Jabalpur when his condition worsened. The same evening, Kuno authorities released a statement saying an investigation was underway to ascertain the cause of the cub’s injuries.
“At this stage, all possible angles are being examined, regarding the circumstances and leading to the condition of the cheetah,” read the statement issued by Field Director, Project Cheetah.
Chief Wildlife Warden of MP, Samita Rajora told ThePrint Monday that the angle of poaching was not ruled out.
Two weeks ago, an eight-month-old cheetah, one of the five cubs born to Namibian cheetah Asha, was found dead in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park.
With this, eight cheetahs have now died in India this year, bringing the total number of cheetahs in the country down to 58.
Also Read: Male cheetah found injured in MP’s Morena, Tiger Strike Force probes possible poaching
Poaching allegations
Wildlife activists allege that the cheetah’s death has raised concerns about unchecked poaching networks in the area. The area is already notorious for poaching tigers and leopards.
In August this year, the department had busted an inter-state poaching network, which had trapped and killed more than 10 leopards in the Morena district in a bid to smuggle and sell their skins.
After the cub was found injured, Kuno authorities informed the Divisional Forest Officer of Morena district, and the Chief Wildlife Warden of MP, Samita Rajora, dispatched the State Tiger Strike Force team to the scene on Monday.
“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, so I immediately sent a team there. We are investigating all possible angles.”
Wildlife activists blamed the authorities for negligence, saying each cheetah is radio-collared and has its own tracking team.
“This definitely seems like the job of an organised poaching network already active in the region. The forest department has failed to protect the cheetahs,” said Ajay Dubey, a Bhopal-based environmentalist and wildlife activist.
(Edited by Stela Dey)