Kuno National Park: Young cheetah dies in clash; population remains stable, total now 25

BHOPAL: In the first-ever recorded clash between a leopard and a cheetah since the launch of Project Cheetah in MP in 2022, a 20-month-old female cheetah was found dead at Kuno National Park Monday evening.

The incident comes just as India's ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme enters its third year this Wednesday.Forest officials said the carcass of the big cat, belonging to one of Namibian female Jwala's four sub-adult cubs, was found around 6.30pm. "She had separated from her mother over a month ago and from her siblings a few days earlier. Preliminary assessment points to a territorial clash with a leopard as the cause of death.

A post-mortem examination will confirm details," an official release stated.The young cheetah was among Jwala's litter released into the wild along with their mother on Feb 21 this year. Her death comes just as conservationists prepared to mark three years since the first cheetahs were reintroduced into India's wilds after seven decades.Despite the setback, authorities said Kuno's overall cheetah population remains stable.

"Kuno now has 25 cheetahs - nine adults (six females and three males) and 16 India-born individuals. All are healthy and doing well," the project field director Uttam Sharma said.Eight cheetahs - five females and three males - were brought from Namibia to the Kuno National Park on Sept 17, 2022, in the first-ever intercontinental translocation of big cats. In Feb 2023, 12 more cheetahs were translocated to the Kuno National Park from South AfricaNational Tiger Conservation Authority and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department are expected to review the next phase of the cheetah action plan later this month. (With input from agencies)