Another Cheetah Brought From South Africa Dies At Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park

A second cheetah has died in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park after falling sick, two months after it was brought to India from South Africa. Earlier, Namibian cheetah Sasha died due to a kidney ailment on March 27.

"During the inspection in the morning, a cheetah brought from South Africa was found dull with head down following which veterinarians attending him alerted senior officials and the feline was taken out from the large enclosure for treatment. Unfortunately, around 4 pm, the cheetah passed away," principal chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife, J S Chauhan told Press Trust of India.

The dead cheetah was identified as six-year-old Uday, another forest official said.

South African Cheetah Uday Dies

18 cheetahs now remain of the 20 that were brought to India in the world's first intercontinental translocation project that aims at reintroducing the big cats in the country, reports NDTV.

Sasha, a five-year-old Namibian cheetah died last month due to a kidney infection. She was part of the first batch of cheetahs flown into Kuno National Park from Namibia last year.

The eight cheetahs brought from Namibia were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of his birthday last year. The second batch of cheetahs from South Africa had seven males and five females.

The South African cheetahs had completed their quarantine period at Kuno and had been released into the larger 6 sq km enclosure built at the park just a week ago.

According to Madhya Pradesh Chief Wildlife Warden JS Chauhan, the officials run daily checks on the cheetahs. On Saturday, when the team went for an inspection, all the cheetahs were in perfect health and were doing well. There were no visible problems. However, when a team went out to check on them on Monday morning, Uday seemed low on energy, looked unwell and was walking with his head down.

Uday’s post-mortem will be carried out at the park later to ascertain the cause of death, said the officials.

Suggested Reading: Namibian Female Cheetah Brought To Madhya Pradesh Passes Away Due To Renal Infection

Feature Image source: Press Trust Of India