Female cheetah 'Daksha' dies in Kuno National Park; 3rd fatality in 40 days: Report

Three of 20 cheetahs moved to Kuno National Park in the initial phase of a plan to revive the species have died in a span of 40 days.

Another cheetah translocated to India from Africa has died in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, reported news agency PTI on Tuesday, recording the third fatality in around 40 days.

File Photo of a Cheetah brought from Africa. (ANI)

"Daksha was found in injured condition in the morning by a monitoring team of KNP. She was immediately given necessary medication and treatment but she died around 12 noon," a forest official said.

Daksha was released in enclosure number one and two male cheetahs, Vayu and Agni, were released from boma 7 (enclosure) for mating, but it appears that the male cheetahs turned violent during the process which is a normal thing, according to the official.

Daksha, brought to India from South Africa, died days after a six-year-old cheetah, ‘Uday’, died of a heart attack, according to a post-mortem report.

A total of 20 cheetahs were moved to Kuno National Park in September and February in the initial phase of a plan to revive the species that disappeared from the country 70 years ago. Earlier, a female cheetah and a male cheetah died on March 27 and April 23, respectively.

The deaths have raised concern about the effort that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed, but the government has maintained that the rest were doing well.

"The other cheetahs have been closely monitored and none of them has shown any similar symptoms," the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said in a statement on Monday.

“They all appear to be perfectly healthy, are hunting for themselves and displaying other natural behaviours.”

(With inputs from agencies)