Female cheetah 'Sasha' from Namibia dies in Kuno National Park

Currently, Kuno National Park has 19 cheetahs from Africa. Sasha and seven others were brought in September 2022 and 12 were brought in February.

Bhopal: A female cheetah brought from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park died on Monday due to renal failure. Sashha, 5.5 year old was suffering from illness for the past three months and passed away at 8 am. She along with seven others were airlifted to Kuno on September 17 last year, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream cheetah project. Cheetah conservation fund officials said the autotopsy will reveal the real cause of death.

Forest department officials said after being brought to Kuna, Sasha started showing signs of illness from January. Following which, she was shifted from the bigger to the smaller enclosure. Principal chief conservator of forest JS Chauhan told ETV Bharat that Sasha was suffering from renal infection and was being treated as per the guidelines but, her health was deteriorating. When asked as to how she got kidney infection after coming to India, Chauhan said her blood sample was taken on August 15 before being brought to India. Her health report revealed infection in blood. He said they did not have any record of the medical history of the animal and it was also no clear why the ill animal was airlifted to India.

This has left wildlife expert Ajay Dubey questioning as to why Sasha was brought from Namibia when she was already ill. Two groups of cheetahs were brought to India from Africa under the Cheetah Project. Kuno National Park currently has 19 cheetahs. In the first batch, eight cheetahs were brought in September 2022 and 12 were brought in the next batch and released in Kuno in February.