Amid Cheetah deaths, project officials to be sent to Namibia, SA

Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday said officials involved in the cheetah revival plan will be sent on study tours to Namibia and South Africa from where the big cats have been brought in and housed at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

During his meeting with MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Yadav said he will be visiting KNP, in Sheopur district, on June 6.

Six cheetahs have died at KNP since March. While three of the four cubs born to cheetah Jwala died on May 23, Sasha, one of the translocated Namibian cheetahs, died due to a kidney-related ailment on March 27, and cheetah Uday, brought from South Africa, died on April 13.

Daksha, a cheetah brought from South Africa, succumbed to the injuries following a violent interaction with a male during a mating attempt on May 9 this year.