New problem plagues cheetah cubs in India reintroduction project

At least seven cubs that are part of a cheetah relocation project are suffering from tick infestation, creating a tricky situation for wildlife authorities looking to treat them safely in the open forest.

The cubs were born to cheetahs relocated from Africa in a bid to reintroduce the animal to India, where it went extinct in 1952.

Authorities at the Kuno National Park in the central Madhya Pradesh state said they feared darting the cubs and carrying out a medical intervention could result in their mothers abandoning them.

The cubs belong to two female cheetahs brought from South Africa and Namibia under the relocation project launched in 2022.

“Monsoon rains were drastic this year in India, causing the cubs, currently six to eight months old, to develop ticks around July and August. We have monitored them on a daily basis, in inspections by a team of veterinarians and using binoculars, and are looking to give them anti-tick medication,” a park official said, speaking anonymously.

The young age of the cubs, “combined with their location in expansive soft release bomas, makes the tranquilisation process risky and complicated”, the park’s management told TheIndian Express.

“We do not want to risk any injuries or any serious incident if we dart the cubs in the quarantined area where they are which has tall grass and waterlogged terrain. If the cubs run around we could face several issues in protecting them,” the senior official told The Independent.

The park’s director, Uttam Sharma, wrote a letter, seen by The Independent, to the principal chief conservator of forests and the chief wildlife warden on 18 September listing the challenges.

“To anaesthetise the cubs, they will need to be darted from a distance. This process will be challenging if their mothers are nearby. Kuno management currently lacks experience regarding the behaviour of the mothers and cubs after darting,” he said in the letter.

The park authorities previously gave anti-tick treatment to a cheetah cub but it was an easier process as the nine-month-old was in a quarantine enclosure and had limited movement, Mr Sharma added.

He noted that the cubs needing treatment weren’t in imminent danger, unlike the three cheetahs that died of maggot infestation last year.

“Only when the need arises, we will intervene,” Me Sharma told The Indian Express.

The cheetah relocation project is controversial.

Several wildlife experts questioned the viability of the animals surviving in the country even before their arrival from Africa, on prime minister Narendra Modi’s birthday in 2022.

Scrutiny of the project increased after several of the cheetahs died and many repeatedly strayed outside the national park, compelling the Kuno park authorities to tranquilise and bring them back.

There are less than 7,000 adult cheetahs left in the wild globally and they now inhabit less than 9 per cent of their original range.