Namibian cheetah Pawan found dead at MP’s Kuno National Park, officials suspect drowning

Carcass was found partly submerged in drain. Cause of death would be confirmed after post-mortem, say park officials.

File photo of a cheetah at the Kuno National Park | ANI

Bhopal: The carcass of a five-year-old male Namibian cheetah was found Tuesday near an overflowing drain at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, the eighth fatality after the spotted cats were relocated from Africa.

According to Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Uttam Sharma, the carcass of the cheetah, named Pawan, was traced at 10:30 am. Upon close inspection, veterinarians found the cheetah partly submerged in water. The front half of the body, including head, was inside the water, according to a press release.

Pawan had no external injuries or marks on his body, which has led forest officials to believe that he died of drowning. Further details would be clear after reports of the samples sent following the post-mortem were received, authorities said.

“As unusual as it sounds, as per initial postmortem, drowning seems to be the only reason for his death. He was a healthy male cheetah which would travel long distances,” Kuno CCF Uttam Sharma told ThePrint.

There are now 24 cheetahs, 12 adults and as many cubs, in the enclosures at Kuno.

Pawan, originally named Oban, was among the first batch of eight cheetahs brought to India from Namibia in September 2022 under Project Cheetah. The second batch of 12 cheetahs was flown in from South Africa last February. The programme was started by the government to restore the population of cheetahs in the country.

Pawan was the first cheetah from his batch to be released into the wild on 11 March 2023, after completing the stipulated time period inside the an enclosure.

After being released into the wild, Pawan travelled large distances and had covered over 300 km to the borders with Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, successfully crossing the Chambal river, Kuno officials said.

The cheetah often had to be tranquilised and brought back into Kuno.

Eight adult cheetahs—three females and five males—have died, so far. Four of them fell to septicemia. Seventeen cubs have been born of which 12 survived. Pawan had fathered two litters of seven cubs—one each with cheetahs Asha and Jwala.

(Edited by Sanya Mathur)