NEW DELHI, Mar 27: One of the eight cheetahs from Namibia relocated to India at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh died on Monday in a kidney ailment she was suffering since January.
Sasha had shown signs of fatigue and weakness during a daily monitoring check and medical examination revealed that she was dehydrated and had kidney-related problems.
A blood test revealed that her creatinine levels were very high, which indicated an infection in the kidney. The other cheetahs in the park are healthy, a press release said.
“Cheetah Sasha passed away due to a kidney problem as her creatinine level was very high,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF-Wildlife) J.S. Chauhan said. The feline was not keeping well since her arrival more than 6 month ago and was recently taken back to a quarantine enclosure at the KNP for treatment, he said. Sasha’s creatinine level was above 400 (an indicator of poor kidney function) which resulted in her death, Chauhan added.
Sasha, who was part of the first batch of cheetahs flown into Kuno National Park, was one of five female cheetahs flown in from Namibia last year as part of an ambitious reintroduction programme.
The cheetah was one of two five-year-old female big cats released in Kuno by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, which also happened to be his birthday, last year.
Last week, two more cheetahs, Elton and Freddie, were released into the wild in Madhya Pradesh. With that, four of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia have been released into the wild in the park in Sheopur district.
Eight Namibian cheetahs — five females and three males — were brought to the KNP as part of a reintroduction programme aimed at reviving the species’ population in India, where they became extinct more than 70 years ago. They were first moved to acclimatization enclosures from quarantine bomas (animal enclosures) in November last year.
They were later released into hunting enclosures of the park. A dozen more cheetahs – seven males and five females – were brought to the KNP from South Africa on February 18 this year. The KNP is now home to 20 cheetahs. South Africa has also signed an agreement with India to introduce dozens of African cheetahs to the Asian country over the next decade.
(Manas Dasgupta)
