Sent high-level team to investigate cheetah killing in Madhya Pradesh, says Centre

Centre orders probe into the pellet-shooting death of a 19-month-old cheetah at Kuno and reviews security measures for the reintroduced population.

The Centre on Wednesday took “serious note” of the death of a 19-month-old cheetah due to firearm pellet injuries outside Kuno National Park, and ordered an immediate on-ground investigation by a central team comprising senior wildlife crime officials, the environment ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The central team comprises the Inspector General of Forests of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and two officials. the additional director and regional deputy director, of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the statutory agency to combat organised transboundary wildlife crime.

“The Union Government has taken serious note of the death of a 19-month-old male Cheetah (KNG22) of Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, due to firearm pellet injuries. Viewing the matter with utmost gravity, the Centre has deputed a high-level team for an on-ground investigation into the incident, given the critical importance of Project Cheetah and the need to ensure the highest standards of protection for the reintroduced population of the Big Cat,” the Union environment ministry said in the statement.

The cheetah, KNG22, was shot with pellets, veterinarians confirmed after extracting five pellets from its body. This is the first such killing in the country since the animals were reintroduced four years ago.

Officials said the probe team has been tasked with conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to the cheetah’s death and coordinating closely with the Madhya Pradesh forest department for action.

The adolescent cheetah, an offspring of Cheetah Nirva, was rescued Sunday evening from the Pahargarh range in Morena’s territorial forests and taken to Kuno National Park for treatment. The Madhya Pradesh forest department previously said the veterinary facility in Jabalpur provided the cheetah with intensive care and emergency surgery. During the surgery, five firearm pellets were recovered from its body.

The cheetah succumbed to its injuries on October 27. Medical examinations corroborated multiple internal injuries associated with the recovered firearm pellets. This is the first reported attack on a cheetah since the species’ reintroduction in India. Under India’s cheetah reintroduction programme, India brought eight cheetahs from Namibia in September 2022, followed by 20 from South Africa in February 2023. Earlier this year, the programme translocated nine more cheetahs from Botswana.

So far, 58 cubs have been born in Kuno, of which 40 have survived. At present, 52 cheetahs are in Kuno National Park and its surrounding landscape. Four cheetahs are in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, and two have been shifted to the Virangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Damoh district. The area has been considered one of the most favourable habitats for free-ranging cheetahs.

The state government has already constituted a Special Task Force (STF), comprising forest and police officers.

The environment ministry said the central team would work in coordination with the state machinery. “It would also examine the implementation of security protocols, as well as monitoring and protection measures being undertaken to avoid any such incident in future,” the ministry said.

Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More