A ten-year-old Namibian cheetah named Gaurav died in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park while undergoing treatment. This is the latest in a series of deaths among the reintroduced cheetah population.
A Namibian cheetah, one of the first batch brought to India in September 2022, has died in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park. Ten-year-old Gaurav was released into the free-ranging area on March 22, 2023, but unfortunately succumbed to an undisclosed cause on Monday around 4 pm. The field director of the Cheetah Project reported that immediate treatment and quarantine measures were taken after Gaurav showed signs of weakness. Preliminary examination suggests an underlying chronic condition as a potential cause.
This death marks the 24th instance of a cheetah dying in India since their reintroduction, which occurred seven decades ago following their official declaration as extinct by the Indian government in 1952. The current count stands at 55 cheetahs, with 51 residing in Kuno National Park and four in Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary.
In September 2022, cheetahs were reintroduced to India from Namibia and South Africa. The wild cats had last been recorded in the country in 1948, when three cheetahs were shot in Chhattisgarh’s Koriya District.
Source:
Scroll.in
