MP: South African cheetah translocated to Kuno National Park dies

Unfortunately, around 4 pm, the cheetah passed away, principal chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife, J S Chauhan said. The dead cheetah was identified as Uday, another forest official said.

Bhopal/Sheopur:One of the cheetahs translocated to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) from South Africa died on Sunday, a senior forest official said. The deceased cheetah 'Uday' aged six years. Notably, this is the second such incident at KNP in almost a month. Earlier, Namibian cheetah Sasha died due to a kidney ailment on March 27.

During the inspection in the morning, a cheetah brought from South Africa was found dull with head down following which veterinarians attending him alerted senior officials and the feline was taken out from the large enclosure for treatment. Unfortunately, around 4 pm, the cheetah passed away, principal chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife, J S Chauhan said. The dead cheetah was identified as Uday, another forest official said.

Meanwhile, Oban, one of the male Namibian cheetahs, who ran away from the Kuno National Park and was heading towards the Uttar Pradesh border, was rescued and brought back, informed the forest officials. Notably, it has been reported multiple times that the cheetahs flee from the national park towards the village areas of Sheopur.

On Saturday, the Oban went towards the Karaira tehsil, which comes under the Shivpuri district. From there, he was moving towards the Uttar Pradesh border. But the monitoring team keeps a watch over the movement of the cheetah throughout the 24 hours and keeps on informing the senior officials and experts.

Based on this, the team of experts and officials of the national park, conducted a joint rescue operation. The Oban was tranquillized and brought back to Kuno National Park.

Prakash Kumar Verma, the DFO of Kuno Forest Zoological Division said, "Oban was leaving the Madhav National Park and going towards the Uttar Pradesh border from Karaira. There was no forest where Oban was moving, and he was tranquillized in the Karaira area around 5.30 pm. Now he is being brought back to Kuno". (With Agency inputs)