Excessive tranquillising behind Kuno cheetah deaths, claims activist

Mired in controversies since its inception, Project Cheetah is now facing fresh allegations of irregularities. A wildlife activist has alleged Pawan, a cheetah at Kuno National Park (KNP), died due to excessive tranquilisation and there were lapses in monitoring the health of big cats.

In a letter to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, wildlife activist Ajay Dubey alleged some cheetahs were tranquilised as many as 110 times without the approval of the Chief Wildlife Warden of Madhya Pradesh.

Dubey sought the removal of Uttam Sharma, Divisional Forest Officer at KNP. He demanded the setting up of an SIT to probe the irregularities. “Earlier, I had flagged the matter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the nodal agency of Project Cheetah, but no action was taken. Several cheetahs were illegally tranquilised at least 110 times. Under Section 11 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, a nod from the Chief Wildlife Warden is required for tranquilisation,” Dubey said.

“Pawan died a few days ago. It was illegally tranquilised, which proved fatal for it. Such negligence might also be responsible for the death of other cheetahs.” he alleged. MP Forest Department, meanwhile, claimed Pawan died due to drowning. “It rained heavily the night Pawan died. There are streams at the park which were flooded. The claim of excessive tranquilising is mere speculation. There were no marks on the body. Two vets conducted post-mortem and confirmed drowning. There was water in his lungs,” an NTCA official told The Tribune.

Dubey said alleged violations of NTCA’s standard operating procedure, especially failure to conduct videography during the post-mortem of deceased cats, raising concern about transparency in the investigation of deaths. He said the health monitoring of cheetahs was not being carried out and this was evident with the presence of ticks on cheetah cubs.