Cheetah brought from South Africa injured in fight at Kuno park

A translocated African cheetah has sustained injuries in a fight with other cheetahs at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, an official said on Tuesday. Agni, the injured cheetah, was undergoing treatment, and was stable and in good health, said divisional forest official P K Verma.

Cheetahs Gaurav and Shaurya, translocated from Namibia, got into a fight with Agni and Vayu (who were brought from South Africa) around 6 PM on Monday in the free range area of KNP, he said. Officials sounded sirens and burst crackers in a bid to break up the fight, Verma said.

Agni was then tranquilized and doctors are treating it, he said, adding that it was stable and in good health and such fights are a normal occurrence. Five female and three male cheetahs brought from Namibia were released into enclosures at the KNP at an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, 2022, as part of an effort to revive the extinct cheetah population in the wild in India.

Another 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa in February 2023. Six cheetahs, including three of the four cubs born in the park, have died since March.