Third Cheetah dies at Kuno National Park

New Delhi: A female cheetah ‘Daksha’ brought from South Africa died at Kuno National Park, hours after she found injured by the monitoring team on 9 May.

“Prima facie, the wounds found on the female cheetah Daksha seem to have been caused by a violent interaction with the male, during the courtship/ mating attempt” said the Ministry in a statement.

“She was immediately given necessary medication and treatment but she died around 12 noon,” an official said.

The official said such violent behaviours by male coalition cheetahs towards female cheetahs during mating are common.

Daksha is the third cheetah to die at the park in around 40 days.

Twenty cheetahs have been brought to the national park from South Africa since last year under ‘Project Cheetah’, of which two died in March and April.

Sasha, a captive-bred Cheetah, died in March from a kidney ailment she had been suffering from since before she was brought to India.

In April, the second Cheetah, Uday, died during treatment after he was found sick at the national park.

The incident happened as the Union Environment Ministry said five cheetahs – three females and two males – will be released from the acclimatisation camps into the free-ranging conditions at the Kuno National Park (KNP) before the onset of the monsoon in June.

The ministry also said the cheetahs will be allowed to move out of KNP and will not necessarily be “recaptured unless they venture into areas where they are in significant danger”