March of death at Kuno continues – 8 dead cheetahs since March 27
The deaths of cheetahs at Kuno National Park continue. After the fourth adult died on July 12, another one followed soon after, on July 14.
Suraj, translocated from Namibia, was the eighth Cheetah to die in the past five months—five adults and three cubs.
The first adult died on March 27. So, in roughly three-and-a-half months, eight cheetahs have died. The government and its tiger conservation body, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have given various reasons for all the deaths.
Yes, in the wild, cheetahs do die of various causes other than natural ones, but according to several independent wildlife experts, the deaths of so many cheetahs in such a short span of time cannot be taken as a natural state of things. Serious efforts need to be made to stem the deaths.
As an international conservation official tracking the cheetah reintroduction project, who requested anonymity, told The Telegraph, when asked about the spate of deaths, “The project is an experiment with inherent uncertainties and unpredictable outcomes. There should be no pressure to hide anything that takes place.”
