9th cheetah dead; Congress says ‘happens when science takes backseat’

A cheetah at Kuno National Park, on June 6. Pic/PTI

One more cheetah has died at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, making it the ninth feline to die since March, according to a statement from the state forest department. "This morning, one of the female cheetahs - Dhatri (Tbilisi) - was found dead. A post-mortem is being conducted to determine the cause of death."

Under the vaunted Project Cheetah, 20 animals were imported from Namibia and South Africa to the KNP in September and in February. Four cubs were born to a Namibian cheetah in March, but three of them died in May.

Now, 14 cheetahs - seven males, six females and a female cub - are in enclosures at Kuno. One female cheetah is out in the open and efforts are on to bring her back to an enclosure for a health examination, the statement said.

Last month, two cheetahs died due to infection in neck wounds caused by the radio collars. But, the environment ministry said all the deaths were due to natural causes.

Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the argument that all these deaths are expected mortality is "complete nonsense" and has been debunked by international cheetah experts.

"This is what happens when one man's vanity and desperate need for self glory takes over," he said.

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