Lack of communication and not sharing timely data resulted in poor intervention, they add
The autopsy report of the eighth translocated cheetah, Suraj, to have died in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) showed similar ailments like that of Tejas, who died three days before Suraj.
While the forest department has said the deaths were not unexpected, experts opined that the fatalities could have been avoided and that the cheetah reintroduction project is shrouded in mysteries — not much is known beyond the cause of deaths.
On July 11, Namibian male cheetah Tejas was found dead with injuries on his neck while on July 14, Suraj died with similar marks on neck and body.
Officials at KNP revealed that Tejas died of traumatic shock and the five-year-old was about 55-60 kilograms in weight, much lower than the average expected.
Its organs such as spleen, kidney, lungs and heart were unhealthy and diseased and kidneys were pulpy and white modules were found on the spleen, according to the autopsy report.
Suraj’s post-mortem report was similar to Tejas and only a pathological report will help understand the exact cause of such health conditions, JS Chauhan, former chief wildlife warden of KNP, who was released from his responsibilities on July 18, 2023, told Down To Earth (DTE). Senior IFS officer Aseem Srivastava has replaced him. Chauhan had added:
We have ruled out any possibility of external factors such as leopards or other wild animals entering the closure and attacking the cheetahs. The cause is clearly internal and we are taking every measure to find the reasons.
Of the total 20 cheetahs brought from South Africa and Namibia four cubs that were born in India, five adults and three cubs have died.
Eleven of the remaining cheetahs are in free-ranging conditions, while the other five, including the cub, are inside quarantine enclosures, according to a statement released by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The deaths have also altered the gender ratio of KNP’s cheetah population — from 10 females to 10 males at the beginning to eight females to seven males.
“Each of the free-ranging cheetahs is being monitored round the clock by a dedicated monitoring team,” it stated.
There is a lack of transparency and lack of accurate information and real-time data sharing by the officials from Kuno, said Adrian Tordiffe, a top South African expert and member of India’s Cheetah Project Steering Committee.
“For the past few months, it has been difficult to take stock of the situation as information could not be accessed,” he said.
In an article published in The Independent, a United Kingdom-based publication, Tordiffe expressed that radiographs of Agni shifting from a fracture and pictures of cheetah injuries in the clash were still awaited. Tordiff repeatedly sought information, but in vain, he alleged.
Gaurav and Shaurya Namibian brothers have also started showing similar symptoms as Tejas and Suraj.
Intervention could have been made for cubs dying of starvation and some mortalities, including that of the cubs, female killed by males and recent two deaths of Tejas and Suraj could have been avoided, Tordiffe told the publication.
Many questions are being raised for the management and upkeep of cheetahs. In a latest, the radio collars to locate the cheetahs were questioned and attributed as the cause of death. Experts also said wet neck and moisture may have caused septicemia, an infection among the cheetahs resulting in death.
The ministry has termed these theories as “unscientific” and “baseless”. In its statement it said that about 50 per cent of the relocated population is expected to be lost in the reintroduction process.
These mortalities are expected due to “intra-species fights, diseases, accidents before release and post release. Mortalities might also result from injury caused during hunting of prey, poaching, road hits, poisoning and predatory attack by other predators, among others”, the government statement added.
Conservation biologist Dharmendra Khandal from Tiger Watch, an organisation based in Ranthambore working towards wildlife conservation, said:
There are many mysteries surrounding the cheetah introduction project. It is unfortunate to learn that with many international veterinarians deployed on ground, the exact cause of cheetahs’ death is unknown.
Khandal said that with eight already gone, Agni the male cheetah is known to have fractured his leg in a fight with some other cheetahs on June 28 . “He is immobile and we are uncertain of its fate now,” he added.
He said there is a lot of ambiguity in the information that is shared by officials outside the KNP. “For example, in a recent case, radio collars are being suspected to be causing infections and leading to death. That alone cannot be the reason as Suraj also sustained injuries to its back where there is no collar attached,” he said.
There is also no information on what kind of prey are available to the wild cats and if supplementary food is given, the conservationist added. “Moreover, these cheetahs described as released in ‘free-ranging conditions’ are continuously monitored by teams and not left on their own.”
He questioned that if the cheetahs are truly free-ranging, why was there the need to tranquillise and bring back Pavan and Asha who wandered into Jhansi. “These animals should be allowed to venture out and explore. If the officials feel the need to catch them, it raises suspicions.”
Khandal said that another aspect to look out for is why cheetahs are fighting over one place and not dispersing in other areas. “It is likely that they are being fed and hence not wanting to leave the territory. The prey is likely to be insufficient. In the earlier report on the Cheetah Action Plan, for instance, it was mentioned that there are about 58-59 animals per square kilometres, against the drop in numbers to 15-17 animals per sq km, he added. “Apart from veterinarians, scientific expertise such as cheetah ecologists should be roped in.”
However, speaking with DTE, Tordiffe said that after the recent death of eight cheetah, the officials have opened communication lines. “This issue had to be forced as it was becoming a major problem of not being inviting in the meetings, among other concerns. This crisis has forced the situation of a meeting by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and we were invited to the cheetah project steering committee meeting attended by experts across the world,” he said.
The loss of cheetahs cannot be afforded and moving forward these animals will be properly evaluated for health and other collar concerns, Tordiffe added.
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Of the total 20 cheetahs brought from South Africa and Namibia four cubs that were born in India, five adults and three cubs have died. Photo: iStock.png)
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