Another cheetah dies at Kuno park, third death in three months

Another South African female Cheetah Daksha died in an infighting with two male cheetahs inside Kuno National Park on Tuesday.

This is the third cheetah to die in Kuno since the big cats were brought from South Africa and Namibia under project cheetah.

"The female cheetah Daksha released from South Africa in Kuno National Park was found fatally injured by the monitoring team on 09.05.2023 at 10:45 am. Treatment was done by the veterinarians but said Cheetah died tragically at 12.00 noon the same day, " the government said in a statement.

"Prima facie, the wounds found on the female cheetah Daksha seem to have been caused by a violent interaction with the male, during the courtship/ mating attempt. Such violent behaviours by male coalition cheetahs towards female cheetahs during mating are common. In such a situation, the chances of intervention by the monitoring team are almost non-existent and practically impossible," it added.

The autopsy of the dead female cheetah Daksha is being carried out by the veterinary team as per the protocol.

The death of two Cheetahs

Sasha, a six-year-old female from Namibia became ill in late January. Her blood results indicated that she had chronic renal insufficiency. She was successfully stabilised by the veterinary team at KNP, but later died in March. A post-mortem confirmed the initial diagnosis. Chronic renal failure is a common problem in captive cheetahs and many other captive felid species. Sasha was born in the wild in Namibia but spent a large proportion of her life in captive conditions at CCF.

The underlying causes of renal disease in felids are unknown, but generally the condition progresses slowly, taking several months or even years before clinical symptoms manifest. The disease is not infectious and cannot be transmitted from one animal to another. It therefore poses no risk to any of the other cheetahs in the project. The prognosis for the condition is very poor and there are currently no effective or ethical treatment options. Symptomatic treatment for the condition only provides temporary improvement, as seen in Sasha's case.

Uday, an adult male of uncertain age from South Africa developed acute neuromuscular symptoms on the 23rd of April just over a week after he was released from his quarantine camp into a much larger acclimatisation camp. During the morning monitoring, it was noted that he was stumbling around in an uncoordinated manner and was unable to lift his head. He was sedated by the KNP veterinary team and treated symptomatically. Blood and other samples were collected to send to the lab to get a better understanding of his condition. He unfortunately died later that same afternoon.

Additional wildlife veterinarians and veterinary pathologists were brought in to perform a thorough post-mortem. The initial examination revealed that he had most likely died of terminal cardio-pulmonary failure. Failure of the heart and lungs is common in the terminal stages of many conditions and does not provide much information about the underlying cause of the problem. It also does not explain the initial neuromuscular symptoms.

The rest of his organ tissues appeared to be relatively normal except for a localised area of potential haemorrhage in his brain. There were no other signs of injury or infection. Numerous tissue samples were collected for analysis. Importantly, his relatively normal blood results and normal white blood cell count indicate that he was not suffering from any infectious disease that could pose a risk to any of the other animals.

The histopathology and toxicology reports still need to be finalised before any conclusions can be drawn. The other cheetahs have been closely monitored and none of them have shown any similar symptoms. They all appear to be perfectly health, are hunting for themselves and displaying other natural behaviours.