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Two more cheetah cubs have died inside Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, wildlife officials said on Thursday attributing the likely cause of their deaths to the sweltering heat and weakness caused by dehydration.
The cubs were among the four born on March 24 this year, inside the National Park to Cheetah Jwala, who was among the set of eight cheetahs relocated to India from Namibia last year Earlier this week, on May 23, one of Jwala's cubs, "the smallest and the weakest" of the litter died likely "from weakness," according to a statement. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) J S Chouhan had told ANI that after the first cub's death Cheetah Jwala and her remaining three cubs were under continuous monitoring by wildlife doctors posted in Palpur. Supplemental food was given to the Cheetah Jwala during the day. "The fourth cub is now fit and fine, but still underweight. The mother Cheetah Jwala is also healthy and doing well," the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest-Wildlife JS Chauhan told ANI today. Both the mother and her remaining cub continue to remain under observation, the official said. "Today when the monitoring team visited the park, the cub looked weak, so the team called veterinary doctors and took the cub to the hospital but after five to ten minutes the cub died. The cause of death is due to immense weakness," Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) J S Chouhan recounted the death of Cheetah Jwala's third cub today. Earlier one of the Namibian cheetahs, Sasha, succumbed to a kidney-related ailment on March 27, while another cheetah, Uday, from South Africa, died on April 13 due to undetermined cause. A female cheetah Daksha brought from South Africa died on May 9 of injuries sustained due to violent interaction with a male cheetah possibly during a mating attempt. It further said that the cubs could not be saved despite all medical efforts due to their critical condition. "May 23 was also the hottest day of this summer season. The day's maximum temperature was around 46-47 degree Celsius. Extremely hot winds and heat wave continued throughout the day. Seeing the unusual condition, the management of the Park and the team of veterinary doctors decided to rescue the three cubs and give necessary treatment. Two cubs could not be saved despite all medical efforts due to their critical condition," read a statement released by the National Park earlier. The Union environment ministry had flown in eight cheetahs from Namibia Kuno in September last year and 12 more from South Africa were flown in February this year as part of the project that seeks to establish clusters of wild cheetahs in India. (ANI)
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