Namibian cheetah, 8, dies in Kuno National Park week after getting injured

"Nabha was badly injured a week back, probably during a hunting attempt inside her soft release enclosure. She had fractures in both ulna and fibula on the left side along with other injuries," Cheetah Project Field Director Uttam Sharma said in a statement.

She was under treatment for a week but succumbed to her injuries. Further details will be known after the postmortem, he added. After Nabha's death, KNP is now left with 26 cheetahs, including nine adults (six females and three males) and 17 cubs born in KNP.

The statement also said that out of the 26 cheetahs, 9 are adults and 17 are Indian born cubs. Additionally, two male cheetah in Gandhisagarare also healthy.

Out of 26 cheetahs in KNP, 16 are in the wild and are performing very well.

They have adapted well to the habitat, have learned to live with co-predators, and are regularly hunting, Sharma added. Anti-ecto-parasitic medication for all cheetahs was completed recently.

Two mothers, Veera and Nirva, along with their recently born cubs, are healthy and doing well, the director added.

India's cheetah reintroduction project was launched in September 2022, years after the species was declared extinct in the country, with last cheetahs spotted in 1947. Under this project 20 African cheetahs were brought to Kuno National Park in phased manner, including eight from Namibia in September 2022 and 12 from South Africa in February 2023. 

In May 2023, three cubs born to Namibian cheetah Jwala died due to extreme heat in the national park in Madhya Pradesh. After this, in June this year, a solar-powered water lift system was installed to protect the cheetah cubs from intense heat in summers.