Cheetahs to remain in Kuno, won't be relocated: Union minister Bhupender Yadav
Bhupender Yadav on Saturday said the cheetahs will continue to remain in the Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh and asserted that the project will be successful. «We are in touch with experts, including international experts. Our team will visit there.
The cheetahs will not be relocated and will remain in Kuno only,» the minister said. Yadav's comments came amid concern expressed by some experts on the cheetah project and that some recent deaths could possibly be due to infection caused by radio collars though that is highly unusual and collars have been used in wildlife conservation in India for over two decades. Other experts, however, said only the post-mortem report will determine the exact cause.
Rajesh Gopal, the head of the cheetah monitoring committee set up by the NTCA, said the reason for the cheetahs' death could be septicemia from radio collar. «It is highly unusual. I have also seen it for the first time.
It's a cause for concern and we have directed (MP forest staff) to check all the cheetahs,» he said. He said it is possible that aberrations, humid weather can lead to infection from radio collar use. «We have been using collars in wildlife conservation for around 25 years in India.
I have never come across such an incident. We have good, smart collars available these days. Still if such an incident is happening, we will have to bring it to the notice of manufacturers,» Gopal added.
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