Bhopal, Oct 27 (IANS) A 19-month-old male cheetah cub at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park has died after being found with multiple metal pellets lodged in its abdomen in a suspected shooting incident, forest department sources said on Tuesday.
Alleging negligence in protecting cheetahs, wildlife activist Ajay Dubey demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident and sought the removal of Kuno Field Director Uttam Sharma, DFO Thiru and SDO Amritanshu, holding the forest department responsible for failing to ensure the animal’s safety.
“I had warned about such risks for years, but the Madhya Pradesh government turned a blind eye. There is no trust in the Kuno Field Director,” Dubey said, demanding an immediate CBI probe into the suspected shooting and the death of the cub.
The male cub, one of the offspring of female cheetah Nirva, was found injured by a monitoring team on the evening of October 25 while moving through the territorial forest division of Morena district, bordering Sheopur. It was rescued overnight and brought to Kuno for an initial medical examination before being shifted to a medical facility in Jabalpur for advanced treatment. Three to four metal pellets were detected inside the cub’s abdominal cavity. The animal died despite being shifted for specialised treatment, sources said.
The suspected shooting would be the first reported incident of its kind involving a cheetah since the species was reintroduced in India in September 2022 under Project Cheetah.
The incident has raised concerns over the safety of the big cats when they move beyond protected habitats and poses a challenge to the country’s cheetah conservation programme.
The Special Tiger Strike Force (STSF), a specialised wildlife protection unit, has been deployed in the area. The forest department is also seeking assistance from the state police’s Special Task Force to identify those responsible, officials said.
Investigators are examining whether the animal was shot using a traditional bharmar, a muzzle-loading firearm, or a country-made 12-bore gun. Forensic and ballistic examinations are expected to help establish the type of weapon used and assist the investigation.
–IANS
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