Science

Sasha, the cheetah from Namibia dies in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park

Even while the first batch of cheetahs brought to India from Namibia and released in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park last September are doing well, one of them, a female Sasha, died here today due to kidney infection. Sasha who was four-and-a-half years old had been showing signs of weakness and fatigue during her daily monitoring and her medical examination revealed that she was not only dehydrated but had problems related to the kidney.

When the results of her blood test were received, it was found that her creatinine levels were very high which suggested an infection in the kidney.

Meanwhile, it was reported that the other seven cheetahs in Sasha’s batch at KNP were healthy.

Last year five female and three male cheetahs had been flown in from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh as part of the ambitious reintroduction programme and released by Prime Narendra Modi on September 17, his birthday. Cheetahs had become extinct in India in 1952 due to loss of habitat and rampant poaching. The last three of these creatures were shot dead by Koriya’s Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo.

Of the eight, two brothers, Elton and Freddie were released into the wild in Madhya Pradesh last week. With this four of the eight have been released into the wild in the park in Sheopur district.

In the beginning, all the eight were kept in the acclimatization enclosures from quarantine bomas (animal enclosures) in November last year. Later they were moved to the hunting enclosures of the park.

This year on February 18, a dozen more cheetahs, seven males and five females, were flown from South Africa to KNP.

Incidentally, the cheetah project is the world’s first intercontinental translocation one aiming to reintroduce the big cats in India.

IN Bureau

Recent Posts

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visits UAE, thanks leadership for extending support following Pahalgam Terror attack

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri paid a visit to Abu Dhabi, UAE on June 10. His…

5 hours ago

23 injured Indians transferred to Nairobi, post-mortem of 5 Indians completed: Indian Embassy in Qatar

The Indian Embassy in Qatar provided updates on the unfortunate accident which took place in…

7 hours ago

EAM Jaishankar meets European Parliament President Roberta Metsola; discusses trade, strategic partnerships

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar met the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola,…

8 hours ago

India stresses free Indo-Pacific, joint action on terror at EAS meet in Malaysia

Secretary (East) P. Kumaran led the Indian delegation at the East Asia Summit (EAS) Senior…

11 hours ago

“Terrorism will eventually come back to haunt you,” says Jaishankar, urges global community to look beyond India-Pakistan lens on Kashmir attack

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, during his visit to Brussels this week, met European…

12 hours ago

Taiwanese NGOs hold 2030 wargame exercise simulating Chinese naval incursion

Three Taiwanese non-governmental organisations participated in a tabletop exercise on Tuesday that simulated dramatic escalations…

13 hours ago