Cheetah died of infection caused by radio collar: Task force chief
Forest officials are not taking the deaths seriously by saying 50% deaths were expected as per the cheetah action plan, a wildlife expert
Bhopal:
Suraj, the three-year-old cheetah found dead in the wild in Madhya Pradesh on Friday, had died of septicaemia caused due to skin chafing by his radio collar, the chairman of the Cheetah Task Force said on Saturday.
“The radio collar caused skin abrasion, which led to maggots infesting Suraj. His situation got aggravated due to wet and humid weather conditions leading to spread of high infection in his body and septicaemia, which is rarest of rare among cats,” said Rajesh Gopal, chairman of the Cheetah Task Force.
The radio collars are supposed to be skin-friendly and the task force is trying to find out the reason behind abrasions that led to the septic infection.
Tejas, a six-year-old cheetah found dead in an enclosure on Tuesday, could have died because of similar reasons as some abrasions were found on his skin as well.
“No deep wounds and canine marks were found on Suraj and Tejas’ bodies as initially thought,” Gopal said.
Five adult cheetahs relocated from Africa and three cubs born in the country have died so far in India’s ambitious project to reintroduce the world’ fastest animal in the subcontinent since they became extinct in the country in 1952.
The local weather conditions are also not conducive for the cheetahs translocated from Africa, who are facing their first monsoon in India, a Madhya Pradesh forester said. The cheetahs were imported from drier African continent in September 2022 and February 2023.
“The weather is not suitable for cheetahs due to humidity and wetness. The African veterinarians suggested some medicines that will be given to all the remaining cheetahs after initial check up to treat abrasions,” said Prakash Verma, divisional forest officer and in-charge of Kuno National Park.
“Because of extreme wet and humid conditions, radio collars are causing infections to cheetahs, which lead to dermatitis and myiasis, followed by septicaemia,” said Vincent Van Der Merwe, manager of the Cheetah Metapopulation Project.
“Flying larvae spreads the infection from neck to the back. The infection is called myiasis, a problem animals faces with flies if their larvae invade the skin. It normally does not happen in dry skin. The animal dies of shock due to septicaemia,” said Adrian Tordiffe, a veterinarian expert from South Africa.
Experts questioned the monitoring by the forest department.
“Superficial monitoring is taking place. The veterinarians are being informed only if the cheetahs are found in bad health condition,” a researcher associated with the project said, not willing to be named. “No daily checks are happening.” He termed it as a serious lapse saying earlier the department tried to show the death as result of territorial fight or attack by a leopard.
Forest officials are not taking the deaths seriously by saying that 50% deaths were expected as per the cheetah action plan, said Ajay Dubey, a Bhopal-based wildlife expert. “The death due to territorial fight, human- animal conflict and predator killing was expected in the project, but all five adult cheetahs and three cubs died of reasons that were never expected. It is a failure of forest officials involved in cheetah project,” he said.
Gopal refuted the allegations and said forest officials cannot keep contact with the cheetahs everyday and interfere in their daily life. “This is an unexpected condition that needs to be looked at and dealt professionally with the help of experts,” he said.
