Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, announced that the cheetahs will remain in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. He assured that the project will be successful and stated that they are consulting with experts, both domestic and international. Yadav emphasized that the cheetahs will not be relocated and will stay in Kuno National Park.
Yadav’s remarks came in response to concerns raised by experts regarding the cheetah project. One South African expert suggested that septicemia caused by radio collars could be a possible cause of death for two male cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh. Another expert mentioned that the exact cause of death will be determined after the post-mortem report.
One of the male cheetahs, Suraj, who was translocated from South Africa, died on Friday at Kuno National Park. Another male cheetah named Tejas died earlier this week. Vincent van der Merwe, a South African cheetah metapopulation expert, stated that the wet conditions have caused infection due to the radio collars, possibly leading to the death of these cheetahs.
The death of these two cheetahs brings the total fatalities to eight, including three cubs, in less than four months. Despite this, Merwe expressed optimism about the cheetah project in India. He mentioned that 75% of the founder population is still alive and well in India, indicating that the project is progressing as planned.
Uttam Sharma, the Kuno National Park director, informed that they have sent the post-mortem reports of the two cheetahs to senior authorities in Bhopal for further examination and analysis.
