Kuno Cheetah Shot Dead; Centre Rushes Probe Team
The Central probe team would also examine the implementation of security protocols, as well as monitoring and protection measures being undertaken to prevent recurrence of any such incident in future.
Bhopal: The Centre on Wednesday deputed a high-level team to make an on-the-spot inquiry into the death of a 19-month-old cheetah in the Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh, due to gunshot injuries.
The Union government has taken serious note of the death of the male cheetah, KNG22, due to firearm pellet injuries while treating the matter with ‘utmost gravity’, a Press Information Bureau (PIB) press release issued on Wednesday said.
“The Centre has deputed a high-level team for an on-ground investigation into the incident, given the critical importance of Project Cheetah and the need to ensure the highest standards of protection for the reintroduced population of the Big Cat”, the press release said.
The Central team, deputed by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), comprises the Inspector General of Forests, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Additional Director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), and Regional Deputy Director, WCCB.
The team has been tasked with undertaking a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of the cheetah, examining all available evidence and coordinating closely with the Madhya Pradesh forest department to ensure strict and swift action in the matter, the press release said.
The Central probe team would also examine the implementation of security protocols, as well as monitoring and protection measures being undertaken to prevent recurrence of any such incident in future, the press release said.
It would submit its findings and recommendations to the ministry for further directions to the state government and field authorities.
The big cat, an offspring of female cheetah Nirva, was found injured on October 25 in the territorial forests of Morena, outside the protected area of the Kuno National Park.
“As reported by the Madhya Pradesh forest department, it was rescued from the Sheopur Territorial Forest Division the same day and provided intensive veterinary care and emergency surgery at the veterinary facility in Jabalpur. During the surgery, five firearm pellets were recovered from its body”, the press release said.
The cheetah succumbed to its injuries on October 27.
Medical examinations corroborated multiple internal injuries associated with the recovered firearm pellets, the release said.
The Madhya Pradesh government has already constituted a Special Task Force (STF), comprising forest and police officers, to investigate the incident.
The Project Cheetah was launched for the reintroduction of cheetah, which had gone extinct in India in 1951, in the country by translocating eight big cats from Namibia in September 2022 to the Kuno National Park.
Six months later, 12 more cheetahs were brought to the Kuno National Park from South Africa.
In February, nine cheetahs were brought to Kuno from Botswana under the project.
The cheetah population in India currently stands at 58.