A female cheetah died inside the Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. Brought from South Africa, the cheetah named Daksha was killed in a fight with other cheetahs inside the park. This is the third incident of a cheetah death in the national park in about 40 days, according to forest officials..
"A female Cheetah Daksha, brought from South Africa has died in Kuno National Park. This is the 3rd death so far, said MP Chief Conservator of Forest JS Chauhan to ANI.
Earlier in April, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) South Africa had said that the deaths of two cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park are within expected mortality rates for a project of this nature.
"The cheetah joined eight of the mammals relocated to India's Kuno National Park from Namibia in September 2022. The two cheetah deaths (one from Namibia and one from South Africa) observed to date are within expected mortality rates for a project of this nature," read the statement released by the DFFE South Africa.
Twenty cheetahs were brought from South Africa to MPs Kuno National Park as part of an initiative to expand the cheetah meta-population and to reintroduce cheetahs to a former range state.
Since last year, two cheetahs died in March and April. Sasha, a captive-bred Cheetah, died in March from a kidney ailment, while the second Cheetah, Uday, died during treatment after he was found sick at the national park in April.
Earlier this year, the governments of South Africa and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation on the Re-introduction of Cheetah to India.