Cheetah Cub Dies After Being Hit By Vehicle On NH, 2nd One to Die In 3 Days
With the death of the two cubs, the KNP is now left with 27 cheetahs
Bhopal: A 20-month-old cheetah cub early on Sunday morning died after being hit by a speeding vehicle on the National Highway in Gwalior district in Madhya Pradesh, police said.
The male cub, offspring of South African female cheetah Gamini, got separated from its mother after straying from the Kuno National Park (KNP) and came under the wheels of a four-wheeler while crossing the National Highway near Ghatigaon, around 35 km from district headquarters of Gwalior, the local inspector general of police Arvind Saxena said.
The local villagers reported to the police about the accident leading to the death of the cheetah cub, police said.
“We have ensured that the vehicles passing through the area slow down to save the life of the other cub which might be roaming in the area”, the police officer said.
The police received clues about the vehicle involved in the accident, Mr. Saxena said.
The police and the forest officials from the KNP rushed to the spot after learning about the mishap.
“The slain cub is the offspring of South African cheetah Gamini. The other cub of the female cheetah is safe”, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) (wildlife), Madhya Pradesh, Subhranjan Sen said.
This was the second cheetah cub of the KNP to die an unnatural death in a span of three months.
Earlier, a day after female cheetah Veera and her two cubs were released into the wild from their enclosure in the KNP, one of the cubs got separated from its mother and was found dead in the wildlife sanctuary.
Forest officials suspect that the cheetah might have died after getting separated from its mother and then suffered fatal injury for some reasons.
With the death of the two cubs, the KNP is now left with 27 cheetahs.
Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district, the second home of cheetahs, has three cheetahs, translocated from the KNP several months ago.
