"Only Centre can decide on relocating cheetahs": State forest chief after cub dies at MP's Kuno

Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 24 : After a cheetah's cub died at Kuno National Park, the Madhya Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forests JS Chouhan said that the decision to relocate cheetahs is beyond their jurisdiction and can only be taken by the central government.

According to Kuno National Park officials, the number of young cubs in the park decreased from four to three.

"The decision to shift the Cheetahs to some other place can only be taken by the central government, it is not in our control," Madhya Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator JS Chouhan told ANI.

He said that the cub of a female cheetah named Jwala died due to weakness at Kuno National Park.

Chouhan further said, "On March 24 this year, a female cheetah named Jwala gave birth to four cubs. We are continuously monitoring them. After one and a half months, these cubs along with mother Jwala were being taken out and since then it was being observed that one cub was a little weak among them. It was not able to compete with the other three."

On Tuesday morning, he said, the monitoring team observed that all the cubs and mother cheetah were staying at the same place. After that three cubs and Jwala got up and went away.

When the team reached the cub lying there, it was alive. Following this, the monitoring team called the veterinary team. They tried to take the cub to the hospital but the cub died within 5 to 10 minutes in the morning itself, he said.

Speaking about the cause of death, Chouhan said, "The cause of death is due to immense weakness. Further, a full-scale postmortem will be done. After the postmortem report, it will be known if there was any other problem or not."

The remaining three cubs are completely fit, good and very playful, he added.

Responding to questions being raised on the functioning at Kuno Park and whether there is any kind of lapse as continuous deaths of cheetahs are being reported, he further said, "In all these cases, we do not think that there is any lapse or any mistake on the part of anyone. These are reasons that are beyond our control."

A female cheetah named Jwala brought from Namibia at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, has given birth to four cubs in March this year.

Notably, in the past few months, three cheetahs have already died at the National Park, raising fingers at the Kuno management and administration.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia at Kuno National Park on the occasion of his birthday on September 17, last year.

The cheetah was declared extinct from India in 1952 but 8 cheetahs (5 females and 3 males) were brought from Africa's Namibia as part of 'Project Cheetah' and the government's efforts to revitalise and diversify the country's wildlife and habitat.

Later on, 12 more Cheetahs were brought from South Africa and rehabilitated to Kuno National Park on February 18.

Under the ambitious Project Cheetah of the Indian government, the reintroduction of wild species particularly cheetahs was undertaken according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines.

India has a long history of wildlife conservation. One of the most successful wildlife conservation ventures 'Project Tiger', which was initiated way back in 1972, has not only contributed to the conservation of tigers but also to the entire ecosystem.

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