After recent death of adult cheetah Shaurya, his sibling cheetah Gaurav became wretched at Kuno National Park. Both cheetahs were brought to Kuno together from Namibia and they used to stay together and kill the prey together in the park. Out of 20 cheetahs introduced to Sheopur, seven have died of various reasons. Out of seven cubs delivered by two cheetahs, three cubs have died. Cheetah Shaurya, who died on January 16, was the tenth cheetah. A few days back, cheetahs Shaurya and Gaurav fought with Agni and Vayu. After death of Shaurya, cheetah Gaurav is feeling all alone. The park officials said that both cheetahs always stayed together even in the enclosure. They killed the prey jointly and took the food on sharing basis.

 

KNP Field Director Uttam Sharma said, “Reason for Shaurya’s death is yet to be known and everything will be clear after the post-mortem report. His sibling Guarav is well and he is in the enclosure. Though the cheetah is looking sad and shy without his brother but team is monitoring all the cheetahs carefully.” Tenth casualty of cheetah is a major setback to the ambitious Cheetah Project of Government. The project was launched in India on September 17, 2022, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with release of eight Namibian cheetahs in Sheopur. After a few months, 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa.

 

Casualty of cheetahs began in March 2023 and after seven adult cheetahs were died of various reason, forest team rescued all the cats from wild and started their medical check, treatment to keep them surviving. Shaurya was also kept in the enclosure for past five months and he was completely fit and fine in the enclosure. Earlier, Kuno National Park was said to be safest for the cheetah reintroduction plan. Wildlife enthusiasts are now raising question over decision of Government to choose Kuno for the project.