One of the first cheetah cubs born in India in 70 years dies of dehydration
One of the first cheetah cubs to be born in India in more than 70 years has died of dehydration and weakness.
The cub, born in Kuno National Park, was the offspring of a cheetah named Jwala that was sent to the park from Namibia as part of a conservation project to reintroduce the species to the subcontinent.
The cub was among a litter of four born in the park in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh more than seven decades after the animals became extinct in the country.
Eight cheetahs – five females and three males – were moved from Otjiwarongo in Namibia to the park in September.
Another 12 cheetahs were moved from Gauteng in South Africa in February.
Officials said the cub died due to “immense weakness”.
“When the monitoring team visited the park, the cub looked weak, so the team called veterinary doctors and took the cub to the hospital, but after five to 10 minutes, the cub died,” said JS Chauhan, chief conservator of forests in Madhya Pradesh.
Experts said the death of the cub was within expected mortality rates. “Hardly 10 per cent cubs survive in the wild,” Satya Prakash Yadav, a representative of the National Tiger Conservative Authority, which is responsible for the cheetah project, told The National.
Weaker cheetah cubs typically survive less often than stronger siblings in the same litter, experts said.
“Cub mortality is particularly high for wild cheetahs. For this reason, cheetahs give birth to large litters compared to other wild cats,” said Vincent Van Der Merwe, of the South Africa meta-population project.
The cub’s death came two weeks after a female cheetah called Daksha was fatally injured in a fight after it was put in an enclosure with two males to breed.
Two more animals, Sasha and Uday, died in March and April due to poor health.
Ullas Karanth, a leading conservation zoologist and emeritus director for the Centre for Wildlife Studies, said that once the cheetahs were released into the wild, their chances of survival dropped.
Mr Karanth suggested the cheetah relocation project was destined to fail, despite the hopes of authorities.
“Cheetahs in India are a valid project but the present project cannot achieve that goal for both ecological and social reasons,” he said.