Fingers crossed over Kuno cheetah ‘drowning’ amid fears of poisoning

Three-year-old when it arrived in Kuno from Namibia in September 2022, Pawan was the first male of the lot to be released in the wild in March 2023.

Concerns over Pawan’s death are echoed by NVK Ashraf, chief veterinary officer of the Wildlife Trust of India: “Barring a freak accident, a healthy cheetah won’t get washed away or drown in a non-flood situation unless there are predisposing factors — in which case, drowning won’t be the primary cause of death.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Rajesh Gopal, chairman of the Cheetah Project Steering Committee, said: “We can’t rule out poisoning until we get the post-mortem report.” The concern, an official said, is that if confirmed, poisoning could point to a “human hand” behind the death.

Pawan’s autopsy was conducted on August 27. Four days on, its findings are yet to be made public. Asked about this, a Kuno official said: “Samples have been sent for lab tests in Jabalpur and the results would take some time.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, a Cheetah Project team member claimed that “water was indeed found in (Pawan’s) lungs.” This suggests drowning or acute pulmonary oedema “caused by congestive heart failure or pneumonia.” Sources said there were no apparent signs of visceral damage.

“A snake bite is unlikely and the stomach contents will be tested for poisoning. But the cheetah appeared to have drowned. The body was found caught in a bush where it probably came floating in the stream swollen with rain waters. The rear part of the body was lying out of water perhaps due to a subsequent drop in the water level,” said an official.

A senior functionary in the Madhya Pradesh forest department also said that “accidental drowning” could be the “only plausible case of death since there was no external injury.”

However, many other causes of death, including organ failure, poisoning or neurotoxic snake bites, do not leave external injuries.

What makes poisoning most probable, said multiple experts, is that Pawan was found dead at the edge of a nallah it possibly visited for a last drink.

“Poisoning induces an acute thirst that invariably makes an animal, often retching, go desperately looking for water,” explained a veterinarian who has handled multiple cases of wildlife poisoning in Uttarakhand.

Cheetah Project’s brightest silver lining, among multiple setbacks, has been its success in avoiding man-animal conflict. A death by poisoning could challenge that exceptional run as the project approaches its second anniversary and pose a fresh challenge for the cheetahs waiting to be released in the wild.

Called gumakkad (wanderer) by the Kuno staff, Pawan covered more distance roaming far and wide, even foraying into Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, than all other male cheetahs of Kuno put together. Every time he ventured too far, Pawan was sedated and brought back to Kuno.

“For many of us, Pawan was the hope for this project. He was independent and hunted regularly even though we fed him on many occasions. He was friendly to the staff and easily approachable. But he was not quite his usual self since he was brought back from Rajasthan this May. He never left Kuno after that,” said a local villager employed with the Cheetah Project.

Pawan fathered two litters of a total of seven cubs with Jwala (2023) and Asha (2024). Four of those cubs survive. With Pawan’s death, Kuno has lost eight of the 20 cheetahs flown in from Africa.