INDIA: Uday, a six-year-old cheetah that was recently transported from South Africa to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park with 11 others, passed away on Sunday. This is the second time in a month that a cheetah has died. The death is confirmed by Madhya Pradesh Chief Conservator of Forest, JS Chauhan.
He said, “Another cheetah, Uday, who was imported from South Africa and was found to be ill at Kuno National Park, passed away while receiving treatment. The cause of death has not yet been determined.“
As per the official confirmation, Uday happened to be restless and was limping, after which he was immediately tranquilised and bought for the first round of treatment at 11 am.
However, unprecedentedly we lost the rare species during the ongoing treatment at around 4 pm. The hunting leopard was brought from South Africa to Kuno on February 18. Since then, the forest administration team has been looking after him, and he was kept under surveillance 24*7.
The first cheetah which died previously was Sasha, who was brought in the first batch of cheetahs from Namibia. The cheetah died out of renal failure. Now, the cause of death would be clear only after the autopsy.
Meanwhile, JS Chauhan said, “The cheetah appeared unwell to the wildlife medical team that examined him. The Cheetah Conservation Fund’s veterinarians and cheetah specialists made the decision to move the cheetah right away into a quarantine Boma (enclosure).”
Recently, South African cheetah expert Vincent Van Der Merwe said that Uday was suffering from chronic stress.
He said, “He, like the other 11, was a wild cheetah. He was in good health before moving to Boma for the translocation experiment in July 2022. He had lost fitness and suffered from chronic stress after ten months in a cage.”
“The animals must be returned to nature. Cheetahs must be returned to the wild, where they belong. They are unhappy in confinement,” he added further.
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