Project Cheetah: Another Cheetah 'Daksha' Dies In MP's Kuno National Park; Third Death In 42 Days

New Delhi: Another female cheetah died in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on Tuesday, making it the third death in the park within a month and a half. The Union Environment Ministry said that the cheetah named 'Daksha', who was translocated to Kuno National Park from South Africa as part of 'Project Cheetah', was found fatally injured by the monitoring team at 10:45 am on Tuesday. The wounds found on 'Daksha' seemed to have been caused by a violent interaction with a male cheetah during the courtship/mating attempt, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said in an official statement.

"Such violent behaviours by male coalition cheetahs towards female cheetahs during mating are common," it said.

In such a situation, the chances of intervention by the monitoring team are almost non-existent and practically impossible, the statement added.

The Ministry informed that the treatment was done by the veterinarians but 'Daksha' died the same day.

Third Cheetah Dies In Kuno National Park Within 42 Days

Earlier on March 27, one of the Namibian cheetahs, Sasha, died due to a kidney-related ailment and another cheetah, Uday, from South Africa, died on April 23.

Sasha, a six-year-old female, fell ill in late January and her blood results indicated that she had chronic renal insufficiency. She was successfully stabilised by the veterinary team at KNP, but later died in March. 

"The underlying causes of renal disease in felids are unknown, but generally the condition progresses slowly, taking several months or even years before clinical symptoms manifest," the Union Environment Ministry had said this week.

On the other hand, Uday died after he developed acute neuromuscular symptoms on April 23, just over a week after he was released from his quarantine camp into a much larger acclimatisation camp. 

The initial examination revealed that he had most likely died of terminal cardio-pulmonary failure. 

What Is Project Cheetah?

The goal of the Cheetah introduction project in India is to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provide space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historic range. 

While eight cheetahs were transported from Namibia to India on September 17, 2022, and were released into the quarantine bomas by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a first batch of 12 cheetahs (7 males, 5 females) were translocated from South Africa to India on February 18, 2023. 

The major objectives of the Cheetah project are:

To establish breeding cheetah populations in safe habitats across its historic range and manage them as a metapopulation.

To use the cheetah as a charismatic flagship and umbrella species to garner resources for restoring open forest and savanna systems that will benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services from these ecosystems.

To use the ensuing opportunity for eco-development and eco-tourism to enhance local community livelihoods.

To manage any conflict by cheetahs or other wildlife with local communities within cheetah conservation areas expediently through compensation, awareness, and management action. 

As per the Action Plan for Cheetah introduction in India, annually 10-12 cheetahs are required to be imported from African countries for the next five years at least.