One more cheetah has died at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, making it the ninth feline to die since March, according to a statement from the state forest department.
"This morning, one of the female cheetahs -- Dhatri (Tbilisi) -- was found dead. A post-mortem is being conducted to determine the cause of death," the statement read.
Fourteen cheetahs -- seven males, six females and a female cub -- are kept in enclosures in Kuno. A team comprising Kuno wildlife veterinarians and a Namibian expert regularly monitors their health.
One female cheetah is out in the open and is under intensive monitoring by the team. Efforts are underway to bring her back to an enclosure for a health examination, the statement said.
"We are examining the death.... The cause of death will be known after the post-mortem," principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) Aseem Shrivastava told PTI.
Last month, two cheetahs died due to infection in wounds caused by the radio collars around their necks. However, the environment ministry said all cheetah deaths were due to natural causes.
Experts involved in the cheetah reintroduction project had told PTI that heavy rain, extreme heat, and humidity may have caused the problems, "with the collars fitted around the necks of the cheetahs potentially causing additional complications".
Following the deaths, all the cheetahs, except the two females, were brought back to their enclosures for examination. An expert veterinarian from South Africa cleaned up the wounds. All the cheetahs have been administered Fluralaner, a systemic insecticide and acaricide given orally or topically.
Under the much-vaunted Project Cheetah, a total of 20 animals were imported from Namibia and South Africa to the KNP in two batches -- one in September last year and the second in February this year.
Since March, six of these adult cheetahs have died due to various reasons. In May, three of the four cubs born to a female Namibian cheetah had also succumbed to extreme heat. The remaining cub is being hand-raised for future wildling.
Under the Cheetah Reintroduction Project, eight Namibian cheetahs -- five female and three male -- were released into enclosures at KNP on September 17 last year. In February, 12 more cheetahs arrived at KNP from South Africa.
Later, four cubs were born to the Namibian cheetah 'Jwala' in March, but three of them died in May.
On July 11, Tejas, a male cheetah, was found dead following suspected infighting. On July 14, another male cheetah, Suraj, was found dead.
Earlier, one of the Namibian cheetahs, Sasha, succumbed to a kidney-related ailment on March 27, while another cheetah Uday, from South Africa, died on April 13. Daksha, a cheetah brought from South Africa, died of injuries following a violent interaction with a male feline during a mating attempt on May 9.
Cheetahs were reintroduced in India 70 years after the extinction of the species in the wild in the country.
On July 20, the Supreme Court had said the death of eight cheetahs (till then) in the KNP in less than one year did not present a "good picture", and asked the Centre to not make it a prestige issue and explore the possibility of shifting the animals to different sanctuaries.
According to international experts involved in the project, the natural process of cheetahs developing thick coats of fur in anticipation of African winter appears to be proving fatal in India's wet and hot conditions.
In a report to the government, they suggested interventions such as shaving off the winter coats to deal with fatal infections and prevent any more death.
But a government official associated with the project said that not all the felines have developed thicker coats.
"Some of these cheetahs who do not have long hair are not facing such issues. So it's natural selection. The fittest of them and their offspring will survive and thrive in the Indian conditions," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Reacting to the development, Congress leader and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, "Something has really gone wrong at Kuno. The ninth cheetah death took place this morning. The argument that all these deaths are expected mortality is complete nonsense and has been debunked by international cheetah experts.
"This is what happens when science and transparency take a backseat. This is what happens when one man's vanity and desperate need for self-glory takes over," he said.
Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath slammed the government for its "stubborn" attitude.
”Nine cheetahs have died since the prime minister released them at KNP, but the government is adamant that it will not resettle these felines anywhere else. This stubborn attitude is condemnable,” Nath said in a tweet.
Responding to Nath's criticism, state BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi accused the former chief minister of always appearing "eager to disrespect Madhya Pradesh."
Experts have said that mortality rate stays around 50 per cent whenever cheetahs are translocated, he said.
