Female Cheetah Found Dead At Kuno National Park, 9th Death Since March

Another cheetah has died in the Kuno national park this morning, taking the number of big cat deaths there to nine in about five months.

"A female cheetah, Dhatri (Tiblisi), was found dead this morning. To determine the cause of the death, a post-mortem is being conducted," said a statement issued by authorities at the park.  

The statement said 14 cheetahs - seven males, six females and a female cub - that are kept in bomas (enclosures) in the Kuno National Park are healthy and their health is being monitored by the park's wildlife veterinarians as well as a Namibian expert. Two female cheetahs were out in the open, of which one has been found dead. 

The nine cheetahs that have died at the national park in Madhya Pradesh include three cubs. In September last year, the national park had seen the reintroduction of 20 adult cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa. Four cubs had been born there since then. 

The deaths mark a significant setback to the Centre's cheetah reintroduction programme, which had been flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Two male cheetahs had died in a span of four days last month, with Tejas dying on July 11 and Suraj's body being found on July 14.

An autopsy had revealed that Tejas had been unable to recover from a "traumatic shock" after a violent fight with a female cheetah.

On March 27, a female cheetah named Sasha had died due to a kidney ailment and male cheetah Uday had died of cardio-pulmonary failure on April 23. Female cheetah Daksha had succumbed to her injuries on May 9, after a violent interaction with a male during a mating attempt.

Two cheetah cubs had also died of "extreme weather condition and dehydration" on May 25. Another cub had died on May 23.

Some experts have attributed the deaths to sub-standard radio collars used on the cheetahs. While the government has dismissed the charges as "speculation and hearsay without scientific evidence", NDTV had accessed footage that shows authorities examining the collar and a maggot-infested wound on the neck of Suraj, who had died on July 14. 

The government had denied any lapses.