Earlier this week, reports emerged that a second cheetah, which had been bought from South Africa, had died at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park. Responding to the death, The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) South Africa said that the deaths of that animals was within the mortality rates for a project of this scale and nature.
"The cheetah joined eight of the mammals relocated to India's Kuno National Park from Namibia in September 2022. The two cheetah deaths (one from Namibia and one from South Africa) observed to date are within expected mortality rates for a project of this nature." DFFE said in a statement.
"Large carnivore reintroductions are extremely complex and inherently risky operations. This is a critical phase of the project, with cheetahs being released into larger environments where there is increasingly less control over their day-to-day wellbeing," the statement added.
The cause of the six-year-old cheetah's death-identified as Uday-was not known at the time of its demise, as per forest officials.
Uday was the second cheetah to die at this park in a month. In March, another cheetah named Sasha, which was brought to India from Namibia, died due to renal failure.
"The wildlife medical team inspected the cheetah and he appeared sick. The doctors and cheetah expert from Cheetah Conservation Fund decided to shift to a quarantine Boma (enclosure) immediately," JS Chauhan, the MP forest chief wildlife warden, told the Hindustan Times.
"Uday died during treatment around 4pm. The cause of death would be clear only after autopsy," Chauhan said.
Also read: Four cubs born to cheetah brought from Namibia to Kuno National Park
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