Another Cheetah Dies At Kuno Park, 8th Death In 4 Months

Suraj, a male cheetah died at the national park in Madhya Pradesh today, making it the eighth big cat casualty there in nearly four months.

The big cat was found lying still in Palpur East Forest Range's Masavani beat by a monitoring team on Friday morning. When they went closer, they found insects hovering over its neck but it then rose and ran away.

A team of veterinarians and forest officials rushed to the spot and the cheetah was found dead around 9 AM, the official said.

"This is for the first time that a cheetah died in the free range," he added.

There were injury marks on his back and neck, and a detailed report was awaited, the official said.

Only three days ago another translocated male cheetah, Tejas, had died at the park.

The cheetah weighed around 43 kilograms, which is less than the weight of normal male cheetahs and his internal body parts were not functioning properly. The chances of his turning healthy in such a situation were quite less, the post-mortem report revealed.

The death of Suraj is yet another blow to the central government's cheetah reintroduction programme launched with much fanfare in September last year.