NEW DELHI, May 26 (NNN-PTI) – Two more cheetah cubs died at a national park in India’s central state of Madhya Pradesh, yesterday, thus taking the total number of cheetah cubs’ deaths to three this week.
Four cubs were born to female cheetah “Jwala,” at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park. One of them died on Tuesday. The female cat was among the cheetahs trans-located from Nambia under India’s Cheetah Reintroduction Programme, last year.
The deaths of three cheetah cubs within a span of three days have been attributed to “extreme weather condition and dehydration” at the national park, as the Mercury touched as high as 47 degrees Celsius.
“On May 23 the temperature was recorded around 46-47 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest day in the area. On Tuesday a team of forest officials discovered the cubs in a weak and dehydrated condition,” NDTV quoted officials at the national park as saying.
“The team alerted the veterinarians, who administered essential medical care to the rescued cubs, which were found underweight, but two more cheetah cubs unfortunately died today.”
The fourth cub, and lone surviving one, has been shifted to a hospital. Chief Conservator of the Forest Department, J.S. Chauhan, told the media, “The health of the fourth cub was also not good. It was also found weak, under-weight and dehydrated.”
Three adult cheetahs have died at the Kuno National Park.
India’s Cheetah Reintroduction Programme was aimed at reviving the population of cheetahs in India, where they became extinct seven decades ago. Prior to their extinction from India in 1952, cheetahs used to share space with other big cats like lions and tigers in the forests.
The transportation of cheetahs last year, into India was declared by the Indian government as the “world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project.”– NNN-PTI
