Remaining African cheetahs well after two deaths, India says
Two of 20 cheetahs taken from Southern Africa to India to reestablish the species in the country have died this year but the rest are well, according to the Indian government, though it says the unprecedented project has its challenges.
The cheetahs were moved to central India’s Kuno National Park in September and February in the initial phase of a plan to revive the species that disappeared from the country 70 years ago. The deaths raised concerns about the effort that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed, but which some conservationists have called a vanity project that overlooks the fact that the African cheetah is not native to South Asia.
The subspecies is similar to but distinct from the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah now only found in Iran.
The Indian government said a six-year-old female cheetah from Namibia became ill in late January and died in March, after suffering from chronic renal insufficiency.
An adult male of unknown age from SA developed acute neuromuscular symptoms late last month and died, just over a week after he was released from his quarantine camp into a larger acclimatisation camp.
“The other cheetahs have been closely monitored and none of them have shown any similar symptoms,” India’s ministry of environment, forest and climate change said.
“They all appear to be perfectly healthy, are hunting for themselves and displaying other natural behaviours.”
The ministry said a team of experts from SA and India visited the park in Madhya Pradesh state on April 30 and submitted a report on the way ahead.