Another cheetah at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park was found dead on Wednesday, 2 August – taking the total casualty of India's Cheetah Project to nine, including three cubs.
"One more cheetah, who was in open forest, was found dead this morning," said Additional Chief Secretary JN Kansotiya.
A press note by the state's forest department read that the female cheetah Dhatri (Tiblisi) was found dead. "A post-mortem is currently underway to determine the cause of the death," it added.
The latest death comes days after a scathing letter, written by a group of foreign experts from South Africa and Namibia – who are all part of the Cheetah Project Steering Committee, highlighting how their 'expert opinions' were being 'ignored', was sent to India's Supreme Court.
Project Cheetah – the ambitious project helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which involved the translocation of 20 cheetahs to India from South Africa and Namibia – has been in the spotlight due to the high mortality of cheetahs.
Experts Raise 'Serious Concerns' Over Management of Project Cheetah
In the letter dated 15 July, the experts conveyed their distress to the Supreme Court, regarding the lack of information on cheetahs. They further alleged that their comments were being ignored, and they were being used as mere “window-dressing.”
A copy of the letter has been reviewed by The Quint.
"While we would not like to dictate how the cheetahs should be managed in India, we are all invested in this project and working as hard as we can to ensure a successful outcome. We have all been involved in the veterinary care of cheetahs and their management in southern Africa for many years and have a great deal to offer in terms of support and experience," they noted.
The letter was signed by Dr Adrian Tordiff on behalf of other wildlife veterinarians Dr Andy Fraser, Dr Mike Toft, and cheetah expert Vincent van der Merwe.
Established in May 2023, the steering committee is led by Dr Rajesh Gopal, the former head of Project Tiger. The committee also includes Dr PR Sinha, the former director of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII); WII scientist Qamar Qureshi; and Ahmedabad-based social worker Mittal Patel. The Quint reached out to Dr Gopal and Qureshi for their comments on the letter. The article will be updated as and when they respond.
The letter – signed on 15 July, days after the death of two cheetahs allegedly due to radio collar injuries – claimed that the death of some of the cheetahs could have been prevented by "better monitoring of the animals" and more appropriate veterinary care.
To demonstrate how proper communication could have helped save some of the cheetahs, the letter mentioned that in July 2023, when a male cheetah was observed with wounds on the back of his neck, it was assumed by the forest officers and vets that he had an altercation with one of the female cheetahs and had sustained severe injuries.
"The staff at Kuno left the injured male and did not try to locate the female to check if she was also injured following which the condition of the male deteriorated, and he died after a few hours without having received any treatment," the letter claimed.
The letter further mentioned that had the experts been shown pictures or even had a description of the wounds on the first animal earlier in the week, they would have made the diagnosis alerting authorities to the problem a few days earlier.
"This would have allowed the appropriate action to be taken to minimise the risks to the other animals," they said.
"Instead, we were largely excluded from the process and had to beg for information to understand what had taken place," the letter further read.The letter by cheetah experts.
Another letter purportedly raising concerns with Project Cheetah, written by Dr Laurie Marker, executive director of Namibia’s Cheetah Conservation Fund, has also been sent to the Supreme Court. Talking about the letter, she told The Quint:
"My comment is that we can help more if we are listened to."Laurie Marker
According to The Indian Express, the Environment Ministry was planning to place the two letters before the steering committee for “detailed deliberations.”
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