Why Did this Happen? Explained

A female South African leopard, named Daksha, died in Kono National Park in Madhya Pradesh state on Tuesday, the Union Environment Ministry said, after a violent interaction with a male during a mating attempt.

This marks the third death of a cheetah in the park in a month and a half. One of the Namibian cheetahs, Sasha, died of a kidney-related disease on March 27, and another cheetah, Uday, from South Africa, died on April 13. National Park and the decision to keep cheetahs in enclosures.

The ministry said in a statement that the fatal injury was found by the monitoring team in Daksha at 10:45 am on Tuesday. Although veterinarians gave her treatment, she died at 12 noon.

The wounds found on Daksha appear to have been caused by violent interaction with the male during the courtship/mating attempt. She added that in such a situation, the chances of the monitoring team interfering are almost non-existent and practically impossible.

Let’s understand the nuances of this development:

“expected losses”

Upon Daksha’s death, the government said such violent behavior by male alliance cheetahs towards females during mating is common.

Project Cheetah was reviewed by a panel of experts, including from South Africa, on April 30.

A Madhya Pradesh Forest Department official told PTI that Daksha was released into enclosure number one, and two male cheetahs, Vayu and Agni, were released from boma 7 (enclosure) for mating. “However, the male cheetahs seem to have turned violent during the process, which is normal,” he said.

After Adi’s death, Lori Marker, founder of the Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), which also helped relocate the animals, Tell CNN Repopulation is very difficult.

“Catastrophes are expected, and they will happen for unexpected reasons,” he stated, adding, “We look at the populations that individuals are a part of and we all care about those individuals, but we also have to think about the big picture.”

However, others have expressed outrage at the deaths. Wildlife biologist and conservation scientist Ravi Chellam said all three deaths occurred in captivity. “Of the four animals that have been released so far, one has been captured twice and is now being held in captivity. If we weren’t ready to release them, why did we bring them in?” The people who were closely involved in the conceptualization of this project, the formulation of the action plan and even its implementation now say Kono is not good enough and there are space constraints. Didn’t we know this before? You should have made sure the grounds were prepared for at least 50 cheetahs before you imported your first cheetah because an extra day in captivity is too long,” he said.

What have the experts decided now?

Experts decided to release five more cheetahs into the wild before the onset of the monsoons and keep the rest in fenced acclimatization camps until the monsoons end. They also decided to open certain internal gates to the fenced enclosures to give the cheetahs more room and allow “interaction between select males and females”.

According to the cheetah reintroduction plan, Kono has the ability to take on up to 21 cheetahs based on its current prey base. With restoration, protection and management, the number can reach 40 individuals.

On Monday, the ministry said the decision to release the cheetahs into their second home would be taken based on a review after the monsoon season. She said the exact carrying capacity of KNP cannot be determined until cheetahs have properly established their local ranges.

With input from PTI

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