Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): After the death of South African cheetah Suraj who died due to wound allegedly caused by the radio collar, Kuno National Park officials have removed the radio collar of five cheetahs.
The radio collar has been removed for their health check-up being done by teams of Kuno veterinarians who came from Namibia and South Africa. The female cheetah Gamini was shifted inside the enclosure for health check-up.
Due to health concern, five male cheetahs and five female cheetahs have been kept inside the enclosures. In all, 20 adult cheetahs were brought to Kuno, eight from Namibia and 12 from South Africa.
Of them, five including Tejas and Suraj have died, reducing their number to 15. An official of Kuno National Park said the first cheetah was caught on Wednesday. Efforts are underway to catch other cheetahs from jungle for health check-up.
The decision was taken to catch the free ranging cheetahs after the death of Tejas and Suraj. Their autopsy revealed that they were had wounds around their neck and there was possibility that they sustained wounds due to radio collar.
The radio collar became wet during rainy season and caused injury on necks of cheetahs. “The cheetah’s skin is soft and its head is small. Hence radio collar is fitted tightly.
When cheetah chases the prey, the radio collar moves around its neck and it may be due to the radio collar that Tejas and Suraj developed wounds around their neck and got infested with maggots,” said a retired IFS officer. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Asim Shrivastava has reached Kuno National Park to take stock of the situation.
