The Environment Ministry said on Sunday that brought from Namibia and South Africa 10adult cheetahs Five of the deaths were due to natural causes and reports attributing the deaths to factors such as radio collars are based on speculation and rumors without scientific evidence. The ministry also said in a statement that the cheetah Several steps have been planned to support the project, including the establishment of a Cheetah Research Center with rescue, rehabilitation, capacity building facilities.

There is no scientific proof of death by radio collar-Ministry of Environment The statement said, “Brought to India from Namibia and South Africa 21 Five of the adult cheetahs death has been reported. According to preliminary analysis, all the deaths were due to natural causes. There have been reports in the media in which radio collars etc. have been held responsible for the death of cheetahs. Such reports are not based on any scientific evidence, but are based on speculations and rumours. International research continues to investigate the cause of death of cheetahs – Environment Ministry ) The ministry said consultations were being held with international cheetah experts and veterinarians from South Africa and Namibia to investigate the cause of the cheetah’s death. Monitoring protocols, safeguards, management information, veterinary facilities, training and capacity building aspects of the project are also being reviewed by independent national experts, the statement said. The ministry said the Cheetah Project Steering Committee of the Center is closely monitoring the progress of the project and has expressed satisfaction over its implementation. It said the government has deployed a dedicated team of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to work closely with the field authorities.

Two cheetahs died in a week Suraj, a male cheetah brought from South Africa, died in Sheopur’s Kuno National Park (KNP) on Friday, while another male cheetah Tejas died on Tuesday. Some experts at the Cheetah Project said some of the recent deaths could possibly be due to radiocollar infections, although this is extremely unusual and collars have been used in wildlife conservation in India for more than two decades. . However, other experts said that only the postmortem report would determine the exact cause.

)Septicemia using radio collar – Rajesh Gopal, head of the Cheetah Project Steering Committee

Rajesh Gopal, head of the Cheetah Project Steering Committee, said that the reason for the death of cheetahs could be septicemia caused by the use of radio collars. He said, “This is very unusual. I have also seen it for the first time. It is a cause of concern and we have instructed (Madhya Pradesh forest officials) to check all the cheetahs.” . Gopal said, “We in India almost have been using collars in wildlife conservation for years. I have never seen such an incident. We have great, smart collars available these days. Still if any such incident is happening, we have to bring it to the notice of the makers.”

Radio collars are causing infection due to extremely moist condition South African cheetah expert Vincent van der Merwe stated that radio collars are causing infection due to extremely wet conditions and this is likely the cause of the cheetah’s death. The ministry said the Cheetah project is still a work in progress and “it is too early to judge its success or failure within a year”. Important information regarding cheetah management, monitoring and protection has been received over the months. The statement said the ministry is optimistic about the long-term success of the project and urges not to speculate at this stage.

Additional ‘frontline staff’ will be deployed – Ministry The statement said that as part of the new steps being considered for the project, additional forest areas would be brought under the administrative control of the Kuno National Park. The ministry said additional ‘frontline staff’ would be deployed and a cheetah protection force would be set up and a second habitat for cheetahs is being envisaged at the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. madhya pradesh news Madhya PradeshPublished Date

Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 10: 06 PM IST