A 19-month-old male cheetah cub linked to Project Cheetah has died after being found with multiple metal pellets in its abdomen in a forest area bordering Madhya Pradesh’s Morena and Sheopur districts, according to forest department sources. The suspected shooting is the first such reported case involving a reintroduced cheetah since the species returned to India in 2022.
The cub, one of the offspring of cheetah Nirva, was discovered injured by a monitoring team on the evening of October 25 while it was ranging in the territorial forest division of Morena. It was rescued overnight and taken to Kuno National Park for an initial medical examination before being shifted to a medical facility in Jabalpur for advanced treatment. It later died, the sources said.
Medical examination detected three or four metal pellets inside the animal’s abdominal cavity. Investigators are examining the nature of the weapon and the circumstances in which the cub was injured. A forensic and ballistic examination is expected to establish whether a traditional bharmar muzzle-loading firearm, a country-made 12-bore gun or another weapon was used.
The Special Tiger Strike Force has been deployed in the area, while the forest department is seeking assistance from the state police’s Special Task Force to identify those responsible. No suspect has been identified so far. Some officials are examining whether the animal was shot in panic after a close encounter, possibly because it was mistaken for a leopard, but the motive and circumstances remain unconfirmed.
Kuno authorities said an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the injuries and that all possible angles were being examined. The statement, issued by the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of the Cheetah Project, did not explicitly describe the injuries as the result of a shooting. State chief wildlife warden Samita Rajora had earlier said it was too early to comment on the cause of the injuries.
The case has drawn attention to the risks faced by cheetahs as they move beyond the boundaries of protected areas. The first action plan for Project Cheetah had identified the prevalence of bushmeat consumption and the possession of country-made firearms, bows, arrows and other hunting tools as risks in the region.
The landscape around Kuno has previously recorded concerns linked to illegal hunting. A leopard was killed by poachers in the park’s buffer zone in April 2022, before the first cheetahs arrived from Namibia. Deer poaching has also been reported in surrounding areas, while forest officials have suspected hunting groups of entering protected areas and removing camera traps to avoid detection.
Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952. Their return is the centrepiece of Project Cheetah, launched in 2022 to re-establish the species in the country through the transfer of animals from Africa to Kuno. Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry, citing the interstate dimensions of the case. The forest department and police investigation will determine the cause of death and establish responsibility.
