New Delhi: A five-month-old cheetah cub in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park died on August 5, as per a press note released by the Madhya Pradesh forest department and the director of Project Lion.
The cub was one of the six born to cheetah Gamini in early March. Gamini was brought in from South Africa in February 2023.
As per the press note, the cub had suffered a spinal fracture, possibly on July 29. Though authorities treated the cub, it succumbed to its injuries a week later. The last cheetah death in Kuno was also that of a cub from the same litter of six born to Gamini.
On the evening of July 29 during routine monitoring, authorities found that one of Gamini’s five remaining cubs could not lift the hind portion of its body — instead, it was trying to move around by dragging its hind body.
Veterinarians examined the cub and found that it had suffered a spinal fracture; they placed the cub under observation. However on August 5, the cub’s condition worsened and though authorities provided it with emergency treatment, the cub died as per a press note released on the night of August 5 and signed by the Assistant Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Madhya Pradesh, and the Director of Project Lion.
While the press note mentioned that the cause of the cub’s death would be known after autopsy, an unnamed official told Down to Earth that the cub was likely injured after possibly falling from a tree.
“The remaining 13 adult cheetahs and 12 cubs are healthy and normal,” the press note said. It also added that all adult cheetahs have also been treated to prevent tick and other parasitic infections, and that all cheetahs are being monitored regularly.
Last year, cheetah experts told The Wire that septicaemia – a fatal blood infection – due to infected neck wounds claimed the lives of some adult cheetahs. However, the Indian government has maintained that all cheetah deaths occurred due to “natural causes”.
The adult cheetahs were brought in from Namibia and South Africa in September 2022 and February 2023 as part of Project Cheetah, India’s ambitious African cheetah introduction programme.
