CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS THE DEATH OF A CHEETAH IN MADHYA PRADESH

Conflicting reports emerge on possible lapses and cause of death.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

The death of a five-and-a-half year old female cheetah, Sasha, who was among the eight felines brought to India on 17 September last year from Namibia, has generated questions, both in India and Namibia, among government quarters and wildlife enthusiasts on whether they were lapses on the part of the Madhya Pradesh state government in handling the Cheetah.

This unfortunate event, if not tackled swiftly and lapses that led to the death of the Cheetah identified, is likely to discourage donor countries from sending Cheetahs to India in the future. What has added more twist to the entire development is that while the Madhya Pradesh government has stated that the Cheetah was already suffering from kidney-related ailment much before she was brought to India, this has been denied by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) which stated that her death was likely caused by a "highly stressful situation".

On 27 March, the Madhya Pradesh government, in its official press release, stated that after Sasha was found to be lethargic on 22 March, she was examined and found to have infection in kidney. After this, as per the press release, the government officials reached out to the CCF. As per the medical records shared by the CCF, the release claimed, the last blood test done on Sasha on 15 August in Namibia had found that her creatinine level was 400.

This mention of her creatinine level being 400, a Bhopal-based official source said, was to convey that the Cheetah was already suffering from a kidney infection much before she was airlifted to India and hence, there was no administrative lapses on the part of the Indian officials that would have led to her death.