Nabha, an eight-year-old female cheetah brought from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP), died on Saturday following injuries sustained a week ago- likely during a hunting attempt inside her soft release enclosure. According to Cheetah Project Field Director Uttam Sharma, Nabha had suffered fractures in both her left ulna and fibula, along with multiple other injuries.
Despite being under treatment for the past week, she could not recover and succumbed to her injuries. Sharma stated that more details would be revealed following a postmortem examination.
26 Cheetahs now remain in Kuno National Park
With Nabha’s death, the cheetah population at Kuno has now decreased to 26, including nine adults (six females and three males) and 17 cubs born at the park. Sharma confirmed that all remaining cheetahs are currently healthy and stable. Two male cheetahs that were relocated from Kuno to Gandhisagar are also reported to be doing well.
Positive signs from other cheetahs
Sharma further added that 16 cheetahs are now living in the wild at KNP and have shown encouraging signs of adaptation. They are learning to coexist with co-predators and are actively hunting on their own.
Anti-ecto-parasitic treatments have recently been administered to all cheetahs as part of their health care routine. Among the cheetahs, two mothers—Veera and Nirva—and their newborn cubs are also reported to be healthy and progressing well.
Nabha was part of India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction program, which brought cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa to re-establish the species in Indian habitats where they had gone extinct decades ago.
