After sudden cheetah deaths in Kuno, Centre turns to Reliance's wildlife facility for help
Kuno National Park, the National Tiger Conservation Authority in May 2023 called in experts from Reliance's wildlife facility in Gujarat to review health monitoring protocols, official records show.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority's (NTCA) Assistant Inspector General of Forests Abhishek Kumar wrote to the CEO of Reliance Industries' Jamnagar-based Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (GZRRC) on May 11, 2023, requesting that a team of experts be sent to Kuno to «review health monitoring protocols» and provide advice to «ensure the welfare of the cheetahs» following the deaths of three cheetahs between March 27 and May 9.
Kumar's letter said Project Cheetah was the first intercontinental reintroduction of a wild, large carnivore species with «no comparable historical precedent» and it was not surprising that a project of such a «magnitude and complexity would face many challenges».
«Due to careful planning and execution, all 20 cheetahs survived the initial capture, quarantine and lengthy transport to the purpose-built quarantine and larger acclimatisation enclosure in Kuno. We are given to understand that Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre has expert veterinarians who are handling a substantial number of cheetahs in captivity,» read the letter, seen by PTI.
GZRRC director Brij Kishor Gupta wrote back on May 24, 2023, saying a four-member team would visit Kuno on May 25-26.
The team included «senior veterinary officers» Jorge Francisco Soares and Nitin Yashwant Tambe, lab
