Sasha’s death at Kuno National Park: Forest officials keep fingers crossed on mortality rate

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Death of female Cheetah ‘Sasha’ at Kuno National Park on Monday has left the forest authorities worried for the health of remaining big cats translocated from Namibia and South Africa.

The authorities have become more cautious and are keenly monitoring the health of the big cats at the national park. To add to their worry is also the ‘mortality rate’ associated with the Cheetah translocation project.

When the Cheetah translocation project was taking shape a report had created ripples as it spoke about the mortality rate associated with translocation cases.  

A senior forest officer told the Free Press that as per the report around 30 %- 40 % mortality rate was reported in cheetah translocation cases in the countries which already have expertise in handling the cheetahs.

In India this is for the first time that Cheetahs have been translocated to Kuno. Hence, there is a chance of higher mortality than 30 to 40 per cent mentioned in the report.

Meanwhile, Principal Chief Conservation of Forest (PCCF) JS Chauhan said that it was not the fault of Kuno authorities that Sasha contracted the illness and died. Sasha had the disease before being translocated to Kuno. However, after the death of Sasha, extra care of the remaining cheetah is being taken, said the PCCF. 

Moreover, sources said that the decision to release remaining Namibian cheetahs into the wild would be taken in the next meeting of Cheetah Task Force.