Cheetah brought from Nambia passes away at MP’s Kuno National Park due to kidney ailment

Bhopal, Mar 28: Sasha, who was one of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia and introduced in Kuno National Park last year, passed away due to a kidney ailment. Sasha had been suffering from this ailment even before her arrival in India.

 

In January, Sasha contracted a renal infection, common among the animals and was exhibiting signs of fatigue and weakness leading to her being tranquillized and moved to a quarantine enclosure for treatment.

 

 

The Madhya Pradesh forest department, in a statement on Monday, said Sasha was suffering from a kidney ailment before her translocation.

 

According to the statement, officials first found out about her ill health on January 22, when she was visibly “lethargic”. “Sasha was inspected by three veterinarians, who found that Sasha needed treatment and she was brought to the quarantine enclosure on the same day,” the statement said.

 

 

“For the past two months, Sasha was treated by all wildlife doctors posted in Kuno, Namibian expert Dr Ilai Walker and South Africian expert Dr Adrian Tordif. On February 18, veterinary expert Dr Laurie Marker came to Kuno with 12 cheetahs brought from South Africa and checked on her health. South African experts appreciated that despite such a serious illness, Sasha was relatively healthy due to proper care and treatment,” the statement said.

 

As a part of India’s cheetah reintroduction programme, Sasha was released into Kuno National Park on September 17th of last year. After being brought to Kuno National Park, all the cheetahs were kept in quarantine for observation. By November, they were released into larger hunting enclosures. Since then, the cheetahs have adapted well to their new home, hunting on their own and displaying signs of successful acclimatization.

 

Later, 12 more were brought from South Africa on February 18. These cheetahs are currently in quarantine, and will be released in soft predator-free Bomas soon.