Cheetah Cub Dies In Kuno, Wild Cat Count Falls To 59
Cheetah was officially declared extinct in India in 1952.
Bhopal: One of the five cubs born to Namibian female cheetah Aasha was on Monday found dead in the Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh, a forest officer said.
The deceased cub was eight-month-old.
‘During morning monitoring, Aasha was observed with only four of her five cubs. An extensive search was undertaken to locate the missing cub, which was subsequently found dead”, Field Director, Cheetah Project, Uttam Kumar Sharma said.
The cause of death is yet to be ascertained and further details will be known after receipt of the postmortem report, he said.
With this, the cheetah count in India declined to 59, including 40 Indian-born cubs.
Following the death of the cub, the Kuno National Park now has 53 cheetahs, including 40 Indian-born cubs.
Out of these, 15 cheetahs are currently ranging freely in the wild in Kuno.
Four cheetahs were shifted to the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh from Kuno a year and half ago and two cheetahs were relocated from Kuno to the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in the state on October seven.
Under the cheetah reintroduction project, eight cheetahs were brought to the Kuno National Park in September 2022 and 12 more were shifted to the park from South Africa six months later.
In February this year, nine cheetahs were translocated to the Kuno National Park from Botswana.
Cheetah was officially declared extinct in India in 1952.