A 19-month-old cheetah died on October 27 after five firearm pellets were recovered from its body during surgery.
The Centre has ordered a high-level investigation into the death and security arrangements under Project Cheetah.
Wildlife activists have demanded a CBI inquiry, alleging possible poaching and failures in monitoring and protection.
Conservation experts have questioned whether Kuno National Park can safely accommodate free-ranging cheetahs in surrounding human-dominated landscapes.
India's surviving cheetah population stands at 58, according to the latest figures provided.
The central government has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the death of a 19-month-old cheetah from firearm pellet injuries near Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, raising concerns over the safety of animals reintroduced under Project Cheetah.
The male cheetah, identified as KNG22 and born to a female named Nirva, was found injured on October 25, 2026, in a territorial forest area outside Kuno National Park.
The animal was rescued from the Sheopur Territorial Forest Division and given emergency veterinary treatment, according to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department. It was subsequently transferred to Jabalpur for specialised care.
An initial X-ray revealed multiple foreign objects in its body, while a CT scan showed injuries to internal organs, muscles, bones and the nervous system.
“Emergency surgery was performed, during which five firearm pellets were recovered from his body. Despite surgical intervention and sustained efforts by the veterinary team, the male cheetah could not be saved,” Chief Wildlife Warden Sameeta Rajora said in a statement on October 27.
The cheetah died later that day.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said the investigation was necessary given the importance of Project Cheetah and the need to ensure protection of the reintroduced animals. “Given the critical importance of Project Cheetah and the need to ensure the highest standards of protection for the reintroduced population of the Big Cat,” said a statement from the Centre.
The central team comprises officials from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB). It will investigate the circumstances surrounding the death, examine available evidence and review security protocols, monitoring arrangements and protection measures.
The Madhya Pradesh government has also constituted a Special Task Force comprising forest and police officers to investigate the incident.
The central team will coordinate with state authorities and submit its findings and recommendations to the ministry. The investigation is expected to examine whether existing monitoring and security measures were adequate and recommend steps to prevent similar incidents.
Madhya Pradesh-based wildlife activist Ajay Dubey demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), saying the incident should be treated as suspected attempted poaching.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he accused forest authorities of negligence and demanded the resignation of Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.
“Just days ago, Kuno Director Uttam Sharma bragged about 24/7 high-tech satellite monitoring and bulletproof tracking teams. He must be immediately suspended! How did poachers get access to secret cheetah movement data” Dubey asked, calling for the suspension of Sharma as well.
His allegations have not been established, and authorities have not confirmed whether the cheetah was deliberately targeted by poachers. Citing media reports, Dubey also alleged that monitoring teams had been late in responding to incidents involving 13 cheetah deaths over the past two years.
Wildlife biologist and conservation scientist Ravi Chellam said it was too early to draw conclusions about attempted poaching. “We do not have the full facts at this stage to say anything definitively,” he said. However, Chellam questioned the effectiveness of the monitoring arrangements for free-ranging cheetahs. “This is clearly a management failure at some level of the much talked about 24x7 monitoring of the free-ranging cheetahs,” he said.
He argued that Kuno was too small to sustain a wild population of a wide-ranging species such as the cheetah.
“It was expected that the introduced cats will range in human-dominated habitats, which is likely to result in conflicts. These predictions were based on the ecology and behaviour of cheetahs. Such well-meant cautionary advice was totally disregarded,” he said, adding that such risks had been highlighted before the first cheetahs arrived in September 2022.
Gaurav Bhardwaj, wildlife activist and founder of A Tiger Trails Foundation, also questioned how the incident could have occurred despite intensive monitoring.
“In India, cheetahs are provided 24-hour Z+ security, and security personnel stay with them,” he said, arguing that the death exposed shortcomings in protection arrangements.
Bhardwaj questioned why senior officials associated with Project Cheetah had been allowed to remain in their positions despite what he alleged were financial irregularities and poor management decisions. He urged the Centre to remove the project's senior-most official and appoint someone with a genuine commitment to wildlife conservation. Without a change in leadership, he warned, such incidents would continue, putting the future of the project at risk.
The latest death brings India's cheetah population to 58, according to the figures provided in the government statement.
Of these, 52 are in Kuno National Park, four in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and two in Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve.