Two Cheetahs Die In Two Months At Kuno National Park, South Africa Says 'Mortality Rates Expected'

SOUTH Africa, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) reacted to the death of two cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on Thursday. The department said the deaths are within expected mortality rates for a project of this nature.

The cheetahs were relocated to Kuno National Park as part of an initiative to expand the cheetah meta-population and to reintroduce cheetahs to a former range state.

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"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," the official statement from DFFE read, as quoted by news agency ANI.

"Large carnivore reintroductions are extremely complex and inherently risky operations. This is a critical phase of the project, with cheetahs being released into larger environments where there is increasingly less control over their day-to-day wellbeing," it added further.

As the autopsy for the death of the Cheetah is awaited, the government of South Africa said there is no indication that it is any form of infectious disease or that there is a similar threat to any of the other cheetahs.

"All the South African cheetahs are in larger enclosures and are closely monitored twice daily. As they are wild cheetahs, their behaviour, movements, and body condition must be evaluated from a distance, limiting the ability of teams on the ground to gain precise knowledge of their health status," the statement added further.

Recently, Uday, one of the several Cheetahs that were brought to India from Africa died in Kuno National Park. Uday died during treatment after falling sick. This was the second death in two months after the death of five-year-old Sasha who died on March 27. Sasha was one of the eight Cheetahs brought to India from Namibia, who succumbed to kidney failure.

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.

(With ANI Inputs)