The cheetah was among two who had been moved to the larger enclosure in the park
A cheetah in South Africa. iStock photo for representation A ninth cheetah has been found dead at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, according to park officials. Dhatri (Tiblisi), a female, was found dead on the morning of August 2, 2023, according to a statement issued by authorities.
The cheetah was among two animals that had been moved to a larger enclosure within the park.
Another female named Nirva’s radio collar went silent a few days ago and officials have been trying since then to trace her in order to bring her back to the quarantine enclosure.
Aseem Srivastava, chief wildlife warden, Bhopal, mentioned in the statement that the remaining 14 cheetahs — seven males, six females and a female cub — kept in the enclosure are healthy. “Their health is being intensively monitored by a team comprising of veterinarians from KNP, Namibian experts and management team,” he said.
Srivastava added that a post mortem is being conducted to determine the cause of Dhatri’s death.
National Tiger Conservation Authority officials continue to attribute the deaths of all cheetahs since March to natural causes. This, despite wildlife experts from South Africa and Namibia stressing that all cheetahs brought to India were healthy and the recent deaths of Tejas and Suraj in July were due to collar infections.
Suraj, an eight-year-old male, was found dead on the morning of July 14. On July 11, four-year-old Tejas was reported dead with injuries on his neck.
Before this, six cheetahs including three cubs lost their lives at the KNP. In a recent incident on June 26, a male named Agni suffered injuries 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.
On March 29, Jwala, a female from Namibia, gave birth to a litter of four cubs. Three have died since then.
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