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A Leopard cub from Kuno National Park in the center India It was hit and killed by a speeding vehicle on Sunday, the first road kill of the big cat since its reintroduction into the country.
The accident happened near Gwalior Madhya Pradesh It was around 6.30 am local time, when the two male cubs, which had strayed outside the protected forest about a month ago, tried to cross National Highway 46.
Officials said the 20-month-old cub was under the surveillance of Kuno’s tracking team and local forest staff while passing through the Ghatigaon area, but the collision occurred immediately.
“Even when the tracking team tried to stop the speeding vehicle from hitting the cheetah, the accident happened suddenly.” project cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said in a statement.
Forest officials started investigation and registered a case.
CCTV footage from several locations on the highway helped in identifying the vehicle, which was later caught in the neighboring state of Rajasthan.
Madhya Pradesh Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests L Krishnamurthy said a team has been sent from Kuno to interrogate the driver and collect forensic samples from the vehicle.
The cub that died was one of the offspring of Gamini, a South African female cheetah released into the wild in March.
Park officials said the surviving sibling is “healthy” and “doing well.”
The accident came two days after another cub — who had been released with its mother and a sibling — was found dead at the Pawnee Range, apparently after becoming separated overnight and falling fatally, according to. Indian Express,
Gwalior police chief Arvind Saxena told PTI news agency that they have “reduced traffic and reduced speed on the highway to prevent any untoward incident as another male cub separated from the same mother may still be around”.
Thousands of animals are reported dead every year on India’s national highways that pass through forested areas, including Kaziranga in Assam and the Western Ghats.
Conservationists say the Agra-Mumbai corridor, a major freight route that cuts through habitat fragments, where the latest accident occurred, is particularly dangerous for the widespread carnivores.
Before this week’s deaths, there were 30 cheetahs in Kuno National Park, including 19 India-born cubs and eight adults, with three additional adults recently transferred to the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Since the launch of Project Cheetah in 2022, a total of 21 cheetahs – both translocated adults and India-born cubs – have died due to a variety of causes such as infections, mating injuries, heat stress and disease.
India declared the cheetah extinct in 1952, four years after it was first spotted in the wild.
India and Botswana plan to relocate eight more cheetahs, which are currently in quarantine in the African nation, as part of the next phase of the programme.
As officials prepare a detailed report for the National Tiger Conservation Authority, concerns are growing about the need for structural mitigation on highways bordering wildlife areas.
Forest officials say speed control, early-warning systems and safe crossing structures may now need to be given immediate priority.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey told The Times of India That accountability should be fixed on this matter at the highest level.