'A few more cheetah deaths may occur, but these should be isolated events', says vet who helped translocate the cheetahs from South Africa

Cheetahs are particularly difficult to reintroduce into large, unfenced environments, explains veterinarian wildlife specialist Dr Todriffe.

South African Veterinary Wildlife Specialist Dr Adrian S.W. Tordiffe provided veterinary support from the South African side during the planning phase early in 2020. He was responsible for clinical aspects – primarily, compiling the disease risk analysis - of the translocation of the African cheetahs to Kuno National Park and once the cheetahs were in India, he continued to offer advice on their veterinary care.

Dr Tordiffe, veterinary wildlife specialist, is director,  Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (University of Pretoria, South Africa), and editor, Journal of the South African Veterinary Association. He holds a Masters’ degree (M.Sc) in African mammalogy and Ph. D. in biochemistry. In an exclusive interview, Dr Tordiffe talks about the death of the African cheetahs and what lies ahead for the global cheetah population.

With the death of nine cheetahs in Kuno National Park, there is a lot of talk about this experiment. Could this have been handled better? 

Of the nine deaths, six of the translocated cheetahs have died in India, the other three deaths are cubs that were born there. So, 14 of the 20 translocated cheetahs are still alive. Some mortalities were expected with a project of this nature. In similar projects in Africa (such as the reintroduction of cheetahs to the Zambezi Delta in Mozambique and the reintroduction project in Zambia) the mortality rate is around 50% within the first year. However, in the case of the African projects, both the post-release monitoring of the animals and the provision of dedicated veterinary support are usually very limited. With the Indian reintroduction project, we planned for intensive post-release monitoring and dedicated veterinary support on the ground in Kuno National Park. The mortality rate should have been far lower than what it has turned out to be, especially since most of the deaths occurred within the fenced management camps which offer a far higher degree of control and monitoring.

What went wrong?

I think the main factors responsible for the deaths are:

1) The relative inexperience of the Indian veterinarians and monitoring teams - this was to be expected because very few vets or monitors in India have ever dealt with cheetahs before, but we were confident that with the support of the team of international veterinarians and experts this problem could be overcome with good communication and training. Unfortunately, most of the international vets and experts were sidelined soon after the cheetahs were settled in India and their advice was largely ignored... the day-to-day management of the cheetahs in Kuno was taken over by a park manager who has no formal scientific training.

The cause of deaths has been attributed to starvation, maggot infestation. As a veterinary wildlife specialist, what's your advice for the caretaking/survival of the remaining cheetahs? What needs to be done immediately? 

When the second male cheetah was found dead from myiasis on the morning of July 14, I alerted the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the managers at Kuno to the fact that all the other cheetahs were at risk. Fortunately, they listened and took action in capturing and examining all the cheetahs that had already been released into free-ranging conditions. Dr Mike Toft (an experienced wildlife vet from South Africa) was dispatched to Kuno to assist with the recapture of the cheetahs. He was in Kuno from July 18-24 and his skills were crucial in the capture and treatment of these very wild animals. The cheetahs with skin wounds were treated with long-acting antiparasitics and antibiotics and I expect they will all make a full recovery. These animals just need time to adapt to the environmental conditions in India and during this adaptation period, they do need veterinary support. It is thus crucial that the most experienced vets are allocated to the project and that the involvement of international vets and experts, with years of experience in cheetah health, is prioritized.

You had earlier stated that "multiple deaths occurring in a short space of time is not unusual in the sense that it’s the high-risk period. Once things stabilise, that will plateau.” You think the worst is over for the Kuno cheetahs?

I think we have been through the most difficult phase of the project. A few more deaths may occur, but these should be isolated events.

Is survival always a big challenge in the translocation of big cats/mammals?

Yes, as mentioned earlier, cheetahs are particularly difficult to reintroduce into large, unfenced environments. While the animals are adapting to the new conditions and trying to find suitable territories in an unfamiliar environment, the risks remain high. A year or two after the animals adapt and settle down, things should improve.

How were the cheetahs handpicked for translocation? What was the process?

The cheetahs that came from South Africa were selected on the following criteria:

1) They had to be wild individuals that were not totally habituated to humans - the hope was that they would avoid human settlements in India and that this would reduce the chances of human-wildlife conflict. In hindsight, choosing very wild individuals created a problem in that the animals are very skittish and difficult to monitor after they are released in India.

2) The cheetahs should have been exposed to other large predators like lions or leopards.

3) They needed to be relatively young and in good health.

With less than 8,000 cheetah population globally, what's their future?

Most populations of cheetahs in Africa (except in South Africa) and the small population of cheetahs in Iran are in decline. Cheetahs currently only occupy less than 9 percent of their historic range. We cannot just continue to use old conservation strategies that don't work and somehow expect a different outcome for these animals. The reintroduction of cheetahs into India offers some hope for the range expansion and conservation of the species. Despite the cheetahs deaths, India still offers a safer habitat for these animals than most places in Africa. If this project fails, there will be very few viable options for the conservation of cheetahs and it is likely that in 50 years from now they will only find safety in small, fenced reserves in South Africa.