National parks are places of wonder as they help preserve the wilderness while giving opportunities for humans to learn and explore the environment. While these areas aim to conserve wildlife, there are also instances where the protected animals face their demise in these unlikely places. In India, three baby cheetahs died in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh state, while another one was in critical condition.
Heat on the Hunt
The cheetah cubs were part of a litter delivered in March 2023 by a female cheetah named Siyaya, one of those who transferred from Namibia to India last year. While monitoring the female cheetah and her four cubs, the park authorities observed that the babies were not in normal condition, with the temperature hitting nearly 47C on May 23.
The baby cheetahs were almost eight weeks old when the incident happened. At this point, they were generally inquisitive and walked constantly with the mother cheetah. In addition to being underweight, the babies also showed weakness and extreme dehydration. The first cub died on May 23, followed by the death of two more babies on May 25, despite the efforts of the park authorities to save them. The fourth cub is currently in critical condition and undergoing necessary treatment in Palpur Hospital, as confirmed by the chief conservator of the Forest Department of Madhya Pradesh, Jasbir Singh Chauhan.
The baby cheetahs were the first litter to be born in India in over 70 years after they were declared officially extinct by the authorities in 1952. To save their species, an ambitious reintroduction program was implemented by the conservationists.
In September 2022, 8 cheetahs were transferred from Namibia, while 12 new members were translocated from South Africa in February 2023. From this group, three adult cheetahs have died for various reasons. One South African cheetah died while attempting to court and mate; a Namibian cheetah suffered from kidney disease, while another died from cardiac failure.
Due to successive reports of animal deaths in the past months, the Supreme Court asked the federal government to consider shifting the cheetahs to a different location.
Is It Time to Reconsider the Reintroduction Program?
The program to reintroduce cheetahs in India was done under the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the conservation efforts receive praise, wildlife experts warned of the potential dangers of reintroducing cheetahs due to various factors.
According to South African wildlife expert Vincent Van der Merwe, the mortality rate of these animals will likely increase in the coming months despite government efforts to save them. He explains that the higher death rate will result from the nature of big cats to establish territories and the possible encounter with leopards and tigers. A team of experts who reviewed the project also noticed that male cheetahs unexpectedly kill their female partners during courtship.
Aside from this, the park's size is also evaluated for possible causes of danger. Experts told the federal government that Kuno National Park seems too small for many cheetahs. While it is normal for these animals to die after relocation, the hunting injury outside of the fenced enclosures provides a real danger to adult cheetahs.
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