• Another African Cheetah 'Tejas' Dies at Kuno National Park

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    Another African Cheetah 'Tejas' Dies at Kuno National Park

    A male cheetah died at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), making it the...

    Digital Desk: A male cheetah died at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), making it the park's seventh big cat casualty in nearly four months.


    At around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the monitoring team saw injuries on the cheetah's neck and called the doctors, who inspected the animal and sedated him to treat the injuries.


    "Around 2 p.m., the male cheetah Tejas was found dead. His injuries are being looked into. The cause of death can be verified after an autopsy," stated JS Chouhan, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.


    On March 27, a female cheetah named Sasha died of kidney disease, on April 23, Uday died of cardio-pulmonary failure, and on May 9, Daksha, a female cheetah, died after a violent contact with a male during a mating attempt. Moreover, on May 25, two cheetah cubs died as a result of "extreme weather conditions and dehydration."


    Earlier, the Centre denied any negligence in the deaths of six cheetahs, including three cubs, at KNP within two months. "There is no lapse in any of the cheetah deaths. "Even in the case of the three cheetah cubs' deaths, global wildlife literature clearly mentions 90% infant mortality among cheetahs," an official said.


    Following the six deaths in May, South African wildlife expert Vincent van der Merwe predicted more deaths and predicted that the reintroduction project would see even higher mortality in the coming months as the cheetahs tried to establish territories and came face to face with leopards and tigers at the park.