Three cheetah cubs dead at Kuno
The cheetah reintroduction project at Kuno National Park is running into more and more rough waters. After the deaths of three adults, three cubs—the first cheetah cubs born at the national park—together died on Tuesday.
After the death of adult cheetahs at Kuno National Park, it is the turn of cubs. Three cubs died on Tuesday.
The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department on Thursday attributed the deaths to heat and malnutrition and said the cubs did not respond to the treatment attempts by veterinarians. The department said that May 23 was very hot, with the day temperature exceeding 45 degrees Celsius.
India’s cheetah introduction project, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes a lot of pride—he had himself released the first set of cheetahs on his birthday last year, amid TV cameras and fanfare—is rapidly losing its sheen.
Three adults and three cubs is the latest count.
Two wildlife biologists familiar with the project that The Telegraph spoke to said they were puzzled by the deaths of the cheetah cubs in the absence of any infection and in the absence of predators in a fenced enclosure. Link
