PM Modi likely to hold meeting today as infection among cheetahs surges

Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also take part in the review meeting, officials added.

So far, five adult cheetahs have died in Kuno since translocation of 20 big cats in two batches from Namibia and South Africa in September last year and February 2023, respectively. Of the five deaths, two were reported last week, with the Madhya Pradesh forest department initially claiming territorial fight or attack by leopard as the reasons.

However, the forest department later admitted the two cheetahs died due to septicaemia (blood poisoning caused by bacteria) following infection around their necks possibly caused by use of radio collar in wet and humid weather.

After a video showing the body of one of the cheetahs infested with maggots from neck to back surfaced, Rajesh Gopal, who heads the cheetah steering committee, on July 15 admitted that “fast spread of infection in their bodies” was the reason for deaths.

On Monday, a state forest department official also confirmed that three more male cheetahs in wild were found to be infested with maggots around their neck. “This has probably happened due to very wet and humid weather in Kuno,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

Officials from the Union environment ministry, however, said reports of maggot infestation in three more cheetahs are not yet confirmed. “All cheetahs are being evaluated for various health parameters. We cannot confirm at the moment that three have maggots or infections. The process will take time,” a senior ministry official said.

In the first inter-continental translocation project, eight cheetahs were brought to Kuno from Namibia on September 17 last year, after a decades-long effort to restore a species that was declared extinct from the country in 1952. Another 12 cheetahs were translocated from South Africa on February 18 this year. Of the 20 cheetahs, 10 were released into the wild, of whom three have died. The remaining, mostly captive bred, were kept in the six square km enclosure, and two of them have died. Of the four cubs born in India, three have died. At present, Kuno has 16 cheetahs, including a cub.

On Tuesday, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the number of forest guards and the area available for the rehabilitation project should be increased. In a review meeting of the project held on Tuesday, Chouhan said the death of some of the cheetahs brought to Kuno National Park under the Cheetah Rehabilitation Project was a matter of concern.

“If required, the number of forest guards and area required for cheetahs should be increased accordingly. For their health and care, the Cheetah Task Force constituted by the central government should be provided all possible cooperation from the state government. Availability of all necessary medicines and equipment including adequate wildlife doctors should be ensured in the area. Along with this, there should be a system for regular review of the condition of cheetahs,” he added.

Experts from South Africa have maintained that they were not informed about maggot infestation, which, they added, was unusual for African cheetahs as they live in drier climate.

Sheopur district where Kuno National Park is located has received 367.8mm of rainfall so far this monsoon against the normal of 197.9mm. This is a departure of 86%, which, India Meteorological Department (IMD) classifies as “large excess.” A cyclonic circulation is lying over Northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal Odisha and extends up to middle tropospheric levels. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over Northwest Bay of Bengal during next 48 hours which is expected to bring widespread rain to central India again, IMD said in its forecast on Tuesday, indicating that wet and humid conditions will remain in Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas.

“In MP, humidity is high, while Namibia is dry and arid. Namibia, where the cheetahs live, is a semi-arid dry Savannah, with a desert climate, hot in daytime and cooler at night and very little rain,” said an expert associated with the project, requesting anonymity. “We never had an issue with collars like that in Namibia. The fix is simple — remove collars during monsoon season. When it is dry weather — as it has been since September arrival and February arrival — the cats can wear them. Things were fine up until the monsoon season began.”

After confirmation of deaths due to infection, the cheetah steering committee has decided to medically examine all the big cats in Kuno. So far, three adult male cheetahs have been found infected, of which two have been caught while the search is on for the third one, state forest officials said.

“Treatment of the two cheetahs have already started,” one of the officials added.

The steering committee has formed a team of veterinarians including Mohan Ram from Gujarat, Manoj Nair from Odisha and Deep Contractor from Karnataka to treat the cheetahs, Rajesh Gopal, chairman of cheetah steering committee.

“Officials from the central government and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have also reached Kuno National Park to oversee capturing of the cheetahs for clinical tests and assessment of their health condition,” he added.

The healthy cheetahs will also be injected medicine through a dart to avoid any infection during monsoon, said an official.

Another official familiar with the development said there was also a discussion to replace the present radio collars with more skin friendly ones. “There is an option of lighter and better radio collars,” said South African veterinarian Mike Troft.