Only free-ranging cheetah found dead in MP’s Kuno; drowning suspected

The only cheetah from Namibia, to survive wilderness in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park was found dead on Tuesday morning with officials suspected drowning as the cause of death.

The cheetah, named Pawan, was found lying near the edge of a swollen stream at around 10:30am on Tuesday.

“The preliminary cause of death seems to be drowning. Further details will be provided once the post-mortem report is received,” said Uttam Sharma, field director Kuno National Park.

A closer inspection by veterinarians revealed that the front half of the cheetah’s carcass, including the head, was inside the water. No external injuries were seen anywhere on the body, said Sharma in the statement released after death.

An officer of MP forest department said, “He was the only free-range cheetah. His location was being traced regularly. The tracking team on Tuesday got alerted when he was not seen moving. The team found him dead.”

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This is the second cheetah death in August. On August 5, a cub born to cheetah Gamini died in the enclosure. Now, the park has 24 cheetahs, including 12 adults and as many cubs.

Pawan had fathered at least seven out 16 cubs born in Kuno in the past one-and-half-years.

Six-year-old Pawan had explored the forest of 300km in Sheopur, Shivpuri, Guna and Morena districts since he was released into the wild a year ago and had evaded an encounter with a tiger at Madhav National Park for over a week in 2023.

A senior forest officer, who was associated with Cheetah Project, said, “Pawan was one of the examples of successful translocation of Cheetah from Namibia to India. His death is shocking for us.”

An environment activist Ajay Dubey said, “Cheetah can swim, so how it is possible that Pawan could have died of drowning i.e., in a drain. The forest department should clarify the cause of death.”