In yet another blow to India’s ambitious cheetah translocation programme, one more feline died at Kuno on Tuesday taking the toll to seven, which includes three cubs born in India.
“A male cheetah, Tejas, brought from South Africa was found dead around 2 PM with injury marks on the neck. The probable causes of injury are being investigated. A post mortem will reveal the cause of death,” Madhya Pradesh forest department said in a statement.
Around 11 am, the wound was first spotted by the monitoring team, which informed the veterinarians at Palpur. Since the injury marks appeared serious at first sight, the doctors came prepared to tranquillise the animal for a closer examination and treatment.
But by the time they reached the spot after obtaining the necessary clearances, the animal was dead. “Cheetah Tejas, aged around four years, died in Kuno national park due to suspected infighting,” said Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife J S Chauhan.
The tragedy strikes just two months after the death of a female cheetah named Daksha, brought from South Africa. In February, India brought 12 South African cheetahs that joined eight more animals transported from Namibia last year.
Out of 20 cats that were brought to re-establish the cheetah population in India after 75 years, four have died since March – all in captivity. In addition, three of the four cubs born to a Namibian cheetah died on a single day.
Of the 16 surviving adults, 12 are in the wild and four have still been kept in the enclosures. What remains unknown at this point is whether they are in separate enclosures or whether two of them were brought together in an attempt to form a coalition.
Neither the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who released the first two cheetahs at Kuno in last September on his birthday, nor the Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav have reacted to the death news.
Congress leader and former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked the Prime Minister for his silence. “After three adults and three cubs, Tejas is the seventh cheetah to have died in Kuno. Not one word of grief from Shikari Shambhu on these losses. Of course he has been mum on the catastrophe in Manipur as well,” he tweeted.
Experts outside the government are of the opinion that while such deaths are not uncommon in cheetah conservation projects, the real test of the programme will happen when the level of monitoring goes down.
Arjun Gopalaswamy, Chief Scientist at Carnassials Global told DH, "The heart of the cheetah introduction project - that is, the creation of a self-sustaining cheetah population - is only just getting underway. We have already seen the demise of 4 adult cheetahs, constituting 20% of the entire group, while they were still within the confines of their enclosures."
According to a recent news report, each cheetah in the wild is monitored by a dedicated team of 12 staff. Dispersing cheetahs have been brought back into the park and there have been interventions during a natural territorial skirmish between two sets of male coalitions. If not for these interventions, the death toll could have been higher. The real test, however, will arise when such interventions are no longer feasible," Gopalaswamy added.