Courtship gone wrong: One African Cheetah dies in Kuno

Union environment ministry say that one female cheetah got fatally injured due to aggression of a male cheetah

| Updated: 09 May, 2023 5:34 pm IST

This was the third death of African cheetahs at Kuno National Park

NEW DELHI: It was a case of courtship gone wrong as Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh reported the death of another cheetah that was brought from Africa.

Reacting to the death of the female cheetah, brought from South Africa, the Union Environment Ministry said, “Unfortunately, during courtship, one female cheetah, Daksha, got fatally injured due to the aggression of a male cheetah and succumbed to death.”

“Such violent behaviours by male coalition cheetahs towards female cheetahs during mating are common. In such a situation, the chances of intervention by the monitoring team are almost nonexistent and practically impossible,” Ministry said.

Earlier, sources told The New Indian that a female cheetah, brought from South Africa, was killed in a fight with other leopards inside the park.

“The Phinda Adult Male Coalition consisting of Vayu and Agni, also known as the White Walkers, had a violent interaction with the Phinda Adult Female, Daksha. Daksha lost her life following the incident,” the source said.

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Incidentally, this was the third incident of cheetah deaths in Kuno National Park. Twenty cheetah were brought from South Africa and Namibia to repopulate the country, where the animal was declared extinct in 1952.

Sasha, a captive-bred cheetah, died in March. She was suffering from a kidney ailment that she had been suffering from since before she was brought to India. On January 23, she showed signs of fatigue and weakness, after which officials tranquilised her and shifted her to a quarantine enclosure for treatment.

In April, the second cheetah, Uday, died during treatment after he was found sick at the national park.

ALSO READ: Second African cheetah dies at Kuno National Park

The death of Uday led to a lot of questions as wildlife experts posted queries about fitness, stress and lack of transparency.

Incidentally, earlier in the day, the Union Environment Ministry said five cheetahs – three females and two males – would be released from the acclimatisation camps into the free-ranging conditions at Kuno National Park before the onset of the monsoon in June.

ALSO READ: EXC: Sad news for India as Namibian cheetah dies at Kuno

The ministry also said the cheetahs will be allowed to move out of KNP and will not necessarily be “recaptured unless they venture into areas where they are in significant danger”.

So far, four of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia have been released from the fenced acclimatisation camps into free-ranging conditions in KNP.