Another cheetah dies in Kuno National Park in MP

An eight-year-old female Namibian Cheetah named Nabha died at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.

According to KNP officials, the cheetah died during treatment after she sustained severe injuries about a week ago.

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As per KNP Director Uttam Sharma, the female cheetah had sustained the injuries most probably while it was attempting to make a hunt inside its soft release boma (large enclosure).

The official said that the cheetah had fractures in its ulna and fibula on the left side of the body, along with other injuries. He said that the exact cause of death and other details would be known after the postmortem is conducted.

Nabha was intercontinentally relocated from Namibia in Africa to the KNP in 2022, as part of India’s ambitious ‘Cheetah Project’, aimed to revive the cheetah population in the country.

The Cheetah was officially declared extinct in India back in 1952. The country’s last Cheetah was shot dead in 1947 in the Koriya district (officially called Korea district) of present-day Chhattisgarh, which was once part of MP.

To revive their population in India under the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction Project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 72nd birthday on 17 September 2022 had released eight Namibian Cheetahs, three males and five females including Nabha, into special enclosures at the KNP.

On 18 February 2023, another set of 12 Cheetahs were brought to the KNP from South Africa.

However, with Nabha’s death today, 14 cheetahs have died since 2023, including nine of the adult cheetahs brought from Africa and five of their cubs born in India.

The total number of Cheetahs at KNP is now 26. This includes 9 adult foreign Cheetahs – six from South Africa and three from Namibia – and 17 cubs born on Indian soil.

Of the 26 cheetahs in KNP, 16 are roaming freely in the wild, while 10 are still in bomas.

The total number of Cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh, and in India, is presently 28.

Two male Cheetahs, Prabhas and Paavak, were shifted on 28 April this year from KNP to the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Ujjain division of Madhya Pradesh.

As per KNP Director Uttam Sharma, anti ecto-parasitic medication of all cheetahs has been conducted recently. He informed that two cheetah mothers, Veera and Nirva along with their recently born cubs are healthy and doing well.