The collars were blamed for deaths of 2 cheetahs translocated from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno
The radio collars of six cheetahs at the Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh have been removed after advice by South African experts, officials have confirmed.
At least eight of the 20 cheetahs relocated from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno since September 2022 have died so far. Of these deaths, two were likely due to septicemia after extreme wet conditions caused the collars to give them infections. The two were found with injuries on their necks.
Read more: Consider shifting cheetahs to Rajasthan, don’t make it prestige issue, SC tells Centre
On July 25, two translocated wild cats — male cheetah Prabhas and female cheetah Veera — were brought back to the enclosure or boma for health check ups. Both cheetahs are in good health and safe, the officials said in a press release.
At present, 13 cheetahs, including seven males and six females, are inside the boma, the officials confirmed.
Veera’s collar was reportedly damaged earlier. “Irrespective of the radio dysfunction, the monitoring teams are always on the lookout for cheetahs and follow their movements. They are safe and under observation,” officials said.
Four-year-old Tejas died on July 11, 2023 and Suraj was found dead on July 14, 2023, due to infections from the collars in the extreme wet conditions, Vincent van der Merwe, the Cheetah Metapopulation Manager of The Metapopulation Initiative, had told Down To Earth.
However, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has refuted reports suggesting Tejas and Suraj died due to infections caused by radio collars as “unscientific”, according to news reports.
Read more: Cheetah deaths, including that of cubs, in Kuno could have been avoided, say experts
Before this, six cheetahs, including three cubs, lost their lives at Kuno. On March 29, Jwala, a female from Namibia, gave birth to a litter of four cubs. Three have died since then.
A male named Agni was injured after a skirmish between two groups of cheetahs. In March, Namibian cheetah Sasha was reported dead following renal failure while on April 24, Uday died of cardiac failure.
A female cheetah, Daksha, was found dead by officials while mating with two male cheetahs on May 9.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released eight Namibian cheetahs into a boma in KNP on September 17, 2022, his 72nd birthday. On February 18, 2023, 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa to Kuno.
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