Bhopal: Another translocated cheetah died at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park on 16 January, taking the death toll of the big cats that went extinct in India decades back to 10, including three cubs.
It was premature to comment on male cheetah Shaurya’s death, Chief Conservator Uttam Sharma told ThePrint, adding that the wild cat had shown no symptoms of distress or any external injury marks on the body.
Shaurya’s death dampens the enthusiasm forest officials felt less than a fortnight ago after female cheetah Asha gave birth to three cubs.
Prior to that, two male Cheetahs, Agni and Vayu, were released into the tourist zone of the Kuno National Park last month. According to the forest department, the two big cats were released in the Parond forest range, which is part of Kuni’s Ahera tourism zone.
In a press note, forest officials said the Namibian cheetah died at 3:17 pm. At around 11 am, the animal was found staggering, following which the forest team tranquilised it. They noticed weakness and revived the animal, but complications arose, the team said. The cat then failed to respond to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). “Cause of death can only be ascertained through post-mortem (exam),” the statement read.
Forest officials suspect the cheetah might have been suffering from some disease as there were neither any marks on his body nor had the death resulted from a territorial fight or mating. “Until last evening, Shaurya was fit and there was no cause for alarm,” added another forest official.
Officials also said that Asha and her three cubs were still inside the larger enclosure and healthy.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Kuno CCF on cheetah deaths — ‘action plan made in advance, things happen differently on ground’