Photo - IANS
Guwahati, Mar 28: Five and half-year-old Shasha, who was brought to India from Namibia, died due to a suspected kidney related ailment on Monday.
The female cheetah was one of the eight Namibian cheetahs who was brought in the first batch from Namibia and translocated to Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh as a part of Indian government’s Project Cheetah.
Reportedly, Shasha contracted a renal infection, common among animals, in the third week of January and was undergoing treatment at the National Park in Sheopur district.
The Madhya Pradesh forest department, in a statement on Monday, said Shasha was suffering from a kidney ailment before her translocation.
According to the statement, officials first found out about her ill health on January 22, when she was visibly “lethargic”. “Shasha was inspected by three veterinarians, who found that Sasha needed treatment and she was brought to the quarantine enclosure on the same day,” the statement said.
A blood test revealed that her creatinine levels were very high, which indicated an infection in the kidney. The other cheetahs in the park are healthy, the press release said.
Meanwhile, eight Namibian cheetahs – five females and three males – were brought to the KNP as a part of reintroduction programme aimed at reviving the species’ population in India, where they became extinct more than 70 year ago. The KNP is now home to 20 cheetahs.