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The Fourth Cheetah Cub at Kuno National Park Stable, Despite Setback in India’s Cheetah Population Revival Program
The Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, India, recently suffered a setback in its cheetah population revival program. Three India-born cheetah cubs died earlier this week, leaving only one surviving cub out of the litter of four. The fourth cheetah cub’s health condition is currently stable, according to KNP Director Uttam Sharma. However, the survival of the ailing cub remains uncertain.
Jwala, formerly known as Siyaya, gave birth to the four cubs in the last week of March after being translocated from Namibia in September 2022. The cheetahs in Namibia give birth to their offspring at the onset of the rainy season, which is followed by winter. However, Jwala gave birth to her litter at the onset of summer in India, which is a hostile time of the year in terms of temperature. The three cubs who died were born during a period of sweltering heat, with temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius.
The forest department officials have attributed the cause of death of the three cubs to the extreme heat. The daytime temperature on May 23 was around 46-47 degrees Celsius, and the cubs were severely dehydrated. Despite treatment, two of the cubs could not be saved. The remaining cub’s survival is uncertain, and the forest department is doing everything possible to ensure its well-being.
Apart from the three cheetah cubs, three of the 20 adult cheetahs translocated from South Africa and Namibia have also died at the KNP, raising doubts about the fate of the much-hyped large carnivorous revival program. The cheetahs were brought to the KNP to revive the population of this fastest land animal species, which was declared extinct in India in 1952. The four cubs of Siyaya/Jwala were the first to be born in the wild on Indian soil after the last cheetah was hunted in the Korea district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947.
The cheetah population revival program received a boost when Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended an event on September 17, 2022, where five female and three male cheetahs from Namibia were released into enclosures at the KNP. Another 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa in February 2023 and housed in a quarantine enclosure. However, the program has faced several setbacks, with the death of Sasha, one of the translocated Namibian cheetahs, due to a kidney-related ailment on March 27, and another cheetah, Uday, from South Africa, on April 13. Daksha, a cheetah brought from South Africa, also died on May 9 following injuries sustained during a violent interaction with a male during a mating attempt.
The survival of the remaining cheetah cub at KNP is crucial for the success of the cheetah population revival program in India. The forest department officials are monitoring the cub’s health closely and doing everything possible to ensure its survival. The program’s failure would be a significant loss for India’s biodiversity and conservation efforts, and the KNP’s cheetah population revival program remains its best hope for the species’ revival in the country.
- Cheetah mortality at Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary
- Causes of cheetah cub deaths at Kuno
- Wildlife conservation efforts at Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary
- Animal welfare concerns at Kuno
- Wildlife management strategies at Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary
News Source : PTI
Source Link :Why did 3 cheetah cubs die at Kuno? Officials explain/