New Delhi: Another translocated African cheetah died in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park Friday, taking the total death toll to eight in the last four months.
The male big cat Suraj was found dead in the park this morning.
This Tuesday, another male Tejas was also found dead. The autopsy revealed that he had been unable to recover from a “traumatic shock” incurred during a violent fight with a female.
So far, five adults and three cubs have died of the migrated African population, raising questions among conservationists whether the central government’s decision to revive India’s extinct cheetah population was practical.
All eyes are on the India cheetah project as this is the first of its kind in the world.
The cause behind Suraj’s death would be known after the postmortem, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests J.S. Chouhan said.
“There are frequent deaths in such projects. If these deaths are natural, then we shouldn’t panic. We are trying to ensure that no further deaths take place. All necessary action is being taken,” Chouhan added.
Eight cheetahs were brought to India from Namibia and released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kuno on 17 September last year. In February, 12 more cheetahs were brought from South Africa.
The first cheetah to die was female Sasha who passed due to kidney failure on 27 March. On 23 April, Uday died of cardio-pulmonary failure, followed by Daksha on 9 May who was killed after a violent interaction with two male cheetahs during a mating attempt.
Three cubs of the four born to Jwala in March died two months later from weakness.
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