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African cheetahs keep dying in India, hurting Modi’s push to reintroduce the big cats
- A female cheetah brought from South Africa earlier this year was killed this week while mating – the scheme’s third fatality since March
- India plans to bring in about 100 cheetahs over the next decade, despite critics’ warnings that the world’s fastest land animal will struggle to adapt
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A cheetah brought to India from South Africa in a scheme to reintroduce the world’s fastest land animal was killed by its partner while mating, officials said, the project’s third recent fatality.
Daksha was one of 12 South African cheetahs relocated to India’s Kuno National Park along with another eight from Namibia, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi presiding over the release of the first arrivals into an enclosure.
“Initial assessment reveals the wounds on the female cheetah appear to have been caused by the male cheetah,” the park said in a statement.
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“Such violent behaviour is normal during mating,” it added. “It is impossible to monitor them in this situation.”
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Cheetahs being reintroduced to the wild in India 70 years after going extinct
Cheetahs being reintroduced to the wild in India 70 years after going extinct
Daksha, who died on Tuesday, is the third cheetah on the high-profile project to die in quick succession. Sasha, a male from Namibia, died of a kidney ailment in March and a South African male, Uday, died last month after it fell unwell.
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