Explained: Why Are Kuno's Cheetahs Dying?

Lack of adequate space, no fenced habitats and delayed responce to search alternative habitats are the reasons behind deaths of African Cheetahs at India's Kuno National Park

New Delhi: Suraj, a male cheetah brought from Africa, breathed his last at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on Friday. He was the eighth cheetah to die at the park in Sheopur district since March this year. Just three days before, another male cheetah named Tejas had also passed away at the park. Wildlife experts are divided over how much space a cheetah needs to thrive. Some say a single cheetah requires 100 square kilometres, while others argue it is hard to estimate. A female cheetah may need up to 400 square kilometres.

Here's Why African Cheetahs At Kuno Are Dying:

Lack Of Space

Many experts, including the Supreme Court, have raised doubts over the adequacy of space and facilities in Kuno park in Madhya Pradesh and have suggested relocating cheetahs to other sanctuaries. Wildlife experts disagree on how much space a cheetah habitat should have. Some say a single cheetah requires 100 square kilometres, while others argue it is hard to estimate. A female cheetah may need up to 400 square kilometres. The core area of the KNP is 748 square kilometres, while the buffer zone is 487 square kilometres.

Deshdeep Saxena, a senior wildlife journalist, expressed worry about the release of 14 more cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa and stressed the need for an extra 4,000 square kilometres of landscape adjoining the KNP to accommodate them.

No Fenced Cheetah Habitats In India

India should fence two or three habitats for cheetahs as there has never been a successful reintroduction into an unfenced reserve in recorded history, South African wildlife expert Vincent van der Merwe said in an interview to news agency PTI. Earlier in April, Merwe warned that the reintroduction project is going to see even higher deaths in the next few months when cheetahs try to establish territories and confront leopards and tigers in the Kuno National Park.

Van der Merwe, who is closely involved with the project, said though the cheetah deaths have been within the acceptable range, the team of experts that reviewed the project recently did not expect males to kill a South African female cheetah during courtship and "they take full responsibility for this."

"There has never been a successful reintroduction into an unfenced reserve in recorded history. It has been attempted 15 times in South Africa and it failed every time. We are not advocating that India must fence all of its cheetah reserves, we are saying that just fence two or three and create source reserves to top up sink reserves," Van der Merwe told PTI.

Search For Alternate Sites For Cheetahs

In April, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department had written a letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, requesting for an "alternate" site for the cheetahs at Kuno, where three adult cheetahs have died in less than two months.

Van der Merwe, manager of the Cheetah Metapopulation Project in South Africa, said the best way forward right now would be to get at least three or four cheetahs to Mukundra Hills, and let them breed up there.

"Mukundra Hills is fully fenced. We know that cheetahs will do very well there. The only problem is that it's not fully stocked at the moment. So you'll have to bring in some black buck and chinkara. And when the fencing is completed at Nauradehi and Gandhisagar, we will have three fenced reserves and then we are absolutely winning," he said.

"That's where the real dangers lie. That's where you can expect mortality due to hunting injury. The cheetahs, of course, will continue to establish territories and fight with each other and kill each other for territories and for access to females. They're going to encounter leopards. There are now tigers moving around in Kuno. The worst deaths are still to come," he said.

How Many Cheetahs Are Left In Kuno?

So far, eight cheetahs have died since March. These include Suraj, Tejas and three cubs.
Eight Namibian cheetahs -- five female and three male -- were released into enclosures at KNP on September 17 last year at a high-profile event attended by the prime minister.
In February this year, 12 more cheetahs arrived at KNP from South Africa.
The birth of four cubs had taken the total count of cheetahs to 24, but eight deaths have brought it down to 16.