Madhya Pradesh: In a setback for India's attempt to repopulate cheetah in the country, one more big cat has died in the Kuno National Park, the forest officials informed.
According to reports, male cheetah named Suraj, who was brought from South Africa, died on Friday.
Earlier on July 11, a male leopard 'Tejas' had died. In the last 4 months, around eight cheetahs including Suraj have died in Kuno National Park along with 3 cubs.
Concerned over the increasing deaths of cheetahs, the National Tiger Authority has formed an 11-member steering committee to save Cheetahs.
On March 25, a female cheetah Sasha died, while on March 27, another cheetah Jwal gave birth to four cubs. But out of these, three have died so far. After this, another two cheetahs Uday and Daksha had died.
On September 17, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia to Kuno National Park. It was released by PM Modi on his birthday on September 17. After this, on February 18 this year, 12 more cheetahs were brought from South Africa.
Hitting out at the government, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said, "The news of the death of the eighth cheetah was received today in Kuno National Park. Despite the continuous deaths, no such plan has come to the fore in which any initiative has been taken to preserve the life of these wild animals. Making wild animals an object of adoration for political exhibitionism does not suit the elected representatives of a democracy. I urge the responsible people to make such a plan soon after discussing with environmentalists and scientists, by which the lives of these animal could be saved."
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