Months after relocation, cheetah from Namibia dies in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno due to kidney ailment
1 min read 27 Mar 2023, 08:19 PM ISTAfter becoming extinct in 1952, eight cheetahs had been brought from Africa's Namibia last year. 'Project Cheetah' is part of the government's efforts to revitalize and diversify the country's wildlife and habitat.
PremiumMere months after they were brought to India and introduced to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, a cheetah has passed away. According to forest officials the four-and-a-half years old female cheetah - named Sasha - died due to a kidney problem. She had been one of the eight animals translocated from Namibia in September last year.
Officials said that the feline had not been keeping well since her arrival. She was recently taken back to a quarantine enclosure at KNP for treatment. Sasha's creatinine level was above 400 (an indicator of poor kidney function) which resulted in her death.
Earlier reports had suggested that she was in quarantine BOMA and being provided buffalo meat due to weakness. A month earlier, officials had said that the cheetah was ‘about to shift into a soft predator-free enclosure’.
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Seven decades after they became extinct in India, eight cheetahs had been brought to Madhya Pradesh and released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2022. This was followed by the arrival of 12 cheetahs from South Africa earlier this year as part of the ambitious project to reintroduce the majestic animal in Indian forests.
Last week two more Namibian cheetahs had been released into the wild at the Kuno National Park - bringing the total tally up to four. Three female cheetahs still remain in hunting enclosures. The group of eight had comprised five females and three males.
The last cheetah died in India in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952. Former Union environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had initiated 'Project Cheetah' in 2009 under the UPA government to reintroduce them in India. The initiative received new lease last year with the central government makign efforts to revitalize and diversify the country's wildlife and habitat.
(With inputs from agencies)
