A worker at India’s Kuno National Park has faced disciplinary action after a viral video showed him offering water to a cheetah and her cubs.
The footage, which circulated online over the weekend, shows the man pouring water into a metal pan after being encouraged by unseen individuals.
Moments later, a cheetah named Jwala and her four cubs approach and drink from the container.
The mother cheetah and her cubs were found in the fields near the boundary, as reported by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Uttam Kumar Sharma to PTI.
Sharma told the news agency that while monitoring teams are sometimes instructed to lure cheetahs back into the park when they stray near boundaries, “there are clear instructions to move away from cheetahs. Only authorised persons can go in close proximity to them to perform a specific task.”
Officials confirmed disciplinary action was initiated against the worker for violating instructions.
This follows news of some villagers on the park’s borders pelting the wild cats with stones to stop attacks on their livestock, reports state.
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South African cheetahs in Kuno National Park
As reported by the BBC, the incident highlights ongoing challenges in India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction program.
Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952, becoming the only large mammal to disappear since the country’s independence.
Twenty cheetahs were relocated from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh between 2022 and 2023, marking the first such intercontinental translocation of the species, the agency reports.
Eight of these animals have since died due to various causes including kidney failure and mating injuries, raising concerns about conditions at the park.
In 2023, South African and Namibian experts involved with the project wrote to India’s Supreme Court expressing belief that some deaths could have been prevented with “better monitoring of animals and more appropriate and timely veterinary care”
Experts from the Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund also raised concerns about inadequate record-keeping and inexperienced veterinary staff.
Park authorities report the population now stands at 26 cheetahs, including 17 in the wild and nine in enclosures. Among these are 11 cubs born on Indian soil.
India is expected to receive 20 more cheetahs from South Africa this year, with officials stating the animals have already been identified by a task force working with South African authorities, the BBC concludes.
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