Another Namibian cheetah dies at MP's Kuno National Park

Bhopal: One more cheetah in Kuno National Park in Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh died on Tuesday. With this, ten cheetahs including three cubs have so far died in the park. Saurya, the seven-year-old Namibian cheetah, died in Kuno National Park on Tuesday and the cause of death would be ascertained after post-mortem and some tests, chief wildlife warden Aseem Srivastav told this newspaper. 

A press release issued by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) and director, of the lion project, of the Madhya Pradesh government said, “Today, on 16th January 2024 around 3:17 PM, Namibian cheetah Saurya passed away”.

Around 11 am on Tuesday, in-coordination and staggering gait was observed by the tracking team following which the animal was tranquilised and weakness was found, the ACCF said. The animal was revived but complications developed post-revival and the animal failed to respond to CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), the forest officer said. With the death of Saurya alias Freddie, Kuno National Park has now been left



with 13 adult cheetahs and three cubs.

Freddie along with brother Elton whose Indian name is Gaurav, was brought from Namibia along with six other cheetahs to Kuno under cheetah reintroduction project in the first ever intercontinental translocation of carnivores on September 17, 2022. Freddie and Elton were brothers of one litter and had a strong bonding. They were always seen moving together and hunting together in the park. The two Namibian cats were named after British rock stars Elton John and Freddie Mercury.

Freddie has fathered four cubs of female Namibian cheetah, Jwala, in Kuno. Of the four cubs, three had died of dehydration and acute malnutrition in May last year. The lone surviving cub, rescued in a critical condition in May last year, is now doing fine, a forest officer in the park said. Aasha, another female Namibian cheetah, gave birth to three cubs in the first week of this month. In February last year, 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa to Kuno under the same project.