Radio collars of six Kuno cheetahs removed, two had ‘severe infection’

After the incidents, two South African cheetah experts had told The Indian Express that radio collars could be causing problems.

Days before he was removed from his post, former Madhya Pradesh chief wildlife warden, J S Chauhan, had also suggested the devices be removed, saying he suspected these were causing infection among the cheetahs.

On Sunday, officials said they removed the radio collars of six cheetahs — Pavak, Aasha, Dheera, Pavan, Gaurav and Shaurya — and also examined them for medical conditions.

“Some cheetahs had small lesions, but the male coalition of Namibian brothers Gaurav and Shaurya had severe infection. We have stocked up the medicines for them and are discussing ways to ensure that the problem of radio collars doesn’t resurface. There may be an issue with the design which will be discussed,” said a wildlife official.

Wildlife officials said the cheetahs were in different stages of infection but, in general terms, healthy.

Wildlife officials said they faced difficulty in tranquilising the cheetahs in order to shift them to the enclosures and it became possible only after long-range darting experts were called in. The cheetahs, the officials added, were eventually tranquilised by South African expert Mike Toft.

At least eight of the 20 cheetahs translocated from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno since September last have died so far due to various reasons.

The first, on March 27, was of a Namibian cheetah named Sasha, who died of a kidney ailment. Officials believe Sasha had had the problem before her arrival at Kuno.

On May 9, a female cheetah Daksha, brought from South Africa, died following a “violent interaction” with two male cheetahs during mating.

The two male cheetahs who died on July 11 and 14 were named Tajas and Suraj. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has refuted reports suggesting Tajas and Suraj died due to infections caused by radio collars as “unscientific”.