The ‘mysterious’ death of one of the male cheetahs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh has put forest officials on alert. With the detailed visceral examination still awaited, the exact cause of death still remains unclear.
However, a preliminary report has indicated that the six-year-old cheetah may have died due to cardiopulmonary failure. The health condition pertains to a situation that impacts the functioning of the heart and the lungs.
“We still do not know why the animal suffered this cardiopulmonary failure. We have sent more samples for an investigation to ascertain what led to its sudden death. But we are definitely concerned and taking all precautions,” principal chief conservator of forests JS Chauhan told News18.
‘No visible signs of illness’
The forest officials have sent samples of the cheetah’s blood and vital organs to the School of Wildlife Forensic and Health in Jabalpur for further examination. The experts are likely to detail what may have caused the sudden failure of the animal’s vital organs. According to Kuno officials, the cheetah had no “visible signs of any illness” days before its death.
The cheetah, named Uday, was among the 12 big cats airlifted from South Africa to India in February this year.
The exercise was part of Project Cheetah – India’s grand wildlife experiment flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore the population of the big carnivore, hunted down to extinction in the early 1950s. It is one of the biggest-ever intercontinental translocations of a carnivore to date.
India has now lost two of the 20 big cats that it translocated from Africa over the last eight months. Only 18 of the big cats now remain at Kuno, while seven of them have already been soft-released into the larger enclosures, and the 11 others from South Africa still remain in the predator-proof smaller bomas (enclosures).
Guard up at Kuno
According to forest officials, the deceased cheetah did not have any interaction with the other cats at the national park. However, the latest incident has left them “concerned”.
“The others are doing fine and hunting well. Luckily most of the cheetahs still remain in the bomas. They are either separated in quarantine enclosures or free-ranging. So there is likely to be no risk of transmission of infection, if any. But we are definitely worried, and doing all we can to keep the rest of the animals safe and healthy,” a senior forest official told News18.
The incident was reported on Sunday when the park officials found the cheetah – Uday – to be slightly weak and lethargic during the morning inspection. The veterinarians noticed that the animal was limping, and it was then tranquilised, and immediately shifted to an isolation ward, read a statement from the forest department.
Within a few hours of the first round of treatment, the cheetah passed away. The animal was later cremated.
Last month, India lost the first cheetah – a 5.5-year-old female ‘Sasha’, succumbing to renal failure after a prolonged illness. Experts say kidney disease and renal failure are problems for all cats, but this can be especially bad for cheetahs, which are by nature delicate creatures.
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