New Delhi: It may be risky to keep all translocated cheetahs in one place, chief wildlife warden J.S. Chauhan has said, a day after a second African cat died in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park.
The six-year-old Uday was among the 12 brought from South Africa two months ago, which was preceded by eight from Namibia in September. All 20 cats – in the first-ever inter-continental transfer of a carnivore — were released in the Madhya Pradesh national park.
The first cat to die was five-year-old Sasha from the Namibia batch, who passed on last month due to a kidney infection.
Cheetahs were declared officially extinct in 1952, but efforts to reintroduce the animals in the country gathered pace in 2020 after the Supreme Court ruled that African cheetahs – a different subspecies – could be brought into the country and kept at a “carefully chosen location” on an experimental basis.
Chauhan told news agency ANI that he had requested the Centre to find another suitable habitat for cheetahs as it was risky to keep them all in one place. He said the action plan on the relocation of cheetahs had clearly stated many alternative habitats.
Chauhan, however, said there was no doubt that the cats would survive. He said the first animal which had died was ill before it was brought to India. “It had a kidney problem,” he said.
But Chauhan would like to know the cause behind the second cat’s death. “He feels weak one day… and by 4 pm he is dead… how?” Chauhan said.
#WATCH| Bhopal, MP: "No, I have no doubt, Cheetahs will survive, there is no issue. The Cheetah that died earlier was sick before it was relocated here, it had kidney problem. But we want to know the cause behind the death of this 2nd Cheetah….": JS Chauhan, Principal Chief… pic.twitter.com/NVxIFMiQpe
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) April 24, 2023
Video footage from Sunday shows the cheetah swaying and unable to walk, before collapsing on the ground and panting. Uday died after being rushed for treatment.
A team of five veterinarians from Jabalpur and Bhopal is in Kuno, and expected to conduct a post-mortem Monday to ascertain the cause of death.
The total number of trans-located cheetahs in the country now stands at 22, after one of the cats gave birth to four cubs last month. The surviving cheetahs are healthy, Chauhan said.