A cheetah cub has died during treatment in Madhya Pradesh's first suspected shooting case

The cheetah cub was shifted to the School of Wildlife Forensic and Health in Jabalpur for further treatment, where it died during treatment on Tuesday (October 27, 2026), according to a senior wildlife official. File | Photo credit: Reuters

A cheetah cub found with suspected gunshot wounds outside Kuno National Park (KNP) has died during treatment in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, The Hindu has learnt. This is the first such attack on a cheetah since the species’ reintroduction program began in September 2022.

An official statement on the death is still awaited.

The incident prompted the state wildlife authorities to launch an investigation led by the State Tiger Strike Squad.

“A detailed probe is on and we are looking into all angles, including poaching. However, the cub appears to have been shot at close range. About three to four pellets have been recovered from its body,” said the official, seeking anonymity.

The 19-month-old cub, born to a female cheetah named Nirva, was found by a monitoring team on the evening of October 25 in the Morena Forest Division and rescued the same night and taken to Kuno National Park for treatment, according to an official statement.

“Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the injury. At this stage, all possible angles are being explored as to the circumstances leading to the cheetah’s condition,” Kuno Field Director and Cheetah Project Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said in a press release on Monday (October 26, 2026).

However, Mr Sharma declined to comment on the matter on Tuesday, saying the cub was found outside his geographical jurisdiction.

All cheetahs that have been released into the wild wear a radio collar, with authorities claiming their location is continuously tracked by satellite.

However, wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has raised questions about the safety of the species, which was reintroduced in the country after it went extinct in 1952, suspecting poaching.

“It does not appear to be a case of self-defence shooting as a cheetah attacking a human without provocation is very rare and we have not seen a single case in four years. The State Tiger Strike Force, which usually deals with serious wildlife crimes like poaching, was also involved,” Mr Dubey said, accusing the wildlife authorities of neglecting warnings about the radioactive collar and previous cases of suspected poaching. in the same region.

“If this is a case of poaching, the important question is whether the poachers had the location of the cheetah,” he said.

The reintroduction program began in September 2022 with the first intercontinental translocation of eight cheetahs from Namibia, followed by the arrival of 20 cheetahs from South Africa in February 2023. In February this year, nine cheetahs were relocated from Botswana. So far, 41 cheetahs have been born in India.

With the latest death, the country’s total cheetah population has dropped to 58, including 52 in Kuno and four in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur and Neemuch districts of Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier this month, two cheetahs were also released by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in Sagar district’s Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve, making it the third home of the species.

Published – 27 Oct 2026 16:58 IST