Tragic Loss: Cheetah Cub Dies After Being Struck by Vehicle in Madhya Pradesh
Cheetah Cub Fatality on National Highway
A 20-month-old cheetah cub from Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh tragically lost its life on Sunday after being struck by a vehicle on the Agra-Mumbai National Highway in Gwalior district.
This incident marks the second cheetah fatality from Kuno within a span of three days. Just last Friday, another cub was discovered dead, having been released into the wild alongside its mother and sibling only a day prior.
The cub that died on Sunday was one of two male cheetahs born in India to Gamini, a cheetah imported from South Africa. Reports indicate that they had strayed beyond the park's boundaries nearly a month ago, according to forest officials.
Uttam Kumar Sharma, the Director of Project Cheetah, stated that the tracking team and local forest personnel were diligently monitoring both cubs. He noted that the accident occurred unexpectedly, despite efforts by the tracking team to prevent the vehicle from colliding with the cheetah.
The vehicle involved in the incident has been apprehended in Kota district, Rajasthan.
A team from Kuno is currently en route to Kota to interrogate the driver and gather samples from the vehicle, as confirmed by Madhya Pradesh's Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests-Wildlife, L Krishnamoorthy.
Following this incident, Kuno National Park now hosts a total of 27 cheetahs, comprising eight adults and 19 cubs.
Since the beginning of 2023, at least 17 cheetahs have died in the park.
In September 2022, cheetahs were reintroduced to India under Project Cheetah, marking the species' return after being declared extinct in the country for over seventy years. These animals were sourced from African nations, including Namibia and South Africa.
On November 12, India and Botswana officially announced the translocation of eight additional cheetahs for the next phase of the initiative. These animals will initially be kept in a quarantine facility in Botswana before their relocation to India.
The Indian government officially declared the cheetah extinct in 1952, with the last recorded sightings occurring in 1948 when three cheetahs were shot in the sal forests of Koriya District, Chhattisgarh.