The final report card of Project Cheetah is in the making as Nirva, the guest from African continent has gone missing in the wild in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park while authorities have not been able to locate and tranquillize her for emergent medical examining as several others have lost the battle of life in this new world far away from their natural habitats in Africa.
Though the authorities have now come out of the deep slumber and started medical check-ups of the rest of the Cheetahs including those kept in enclosures in the aforesaid park, the sluggish approach earlier had already taken the toll with several Cheetahs succumbing to changes in habitat and poor medical care as lately it was found that maggots were behind the deaths of more than couple of Cheetahs, which is unjustifiable.
It is really unacceptable that the project which was launched with much fanfare with PM Narendra Modi leading the whole gamut has witnessed such kind of indifference as one after another, scores of Cheetahs have perished with the concerned authorities looking at the things as mute spectators. As it has been said that some Cheetahs in Kuno died due to maggot infections and authorities have been subjecting all the remaining Cheetahs to health checks, the move seems to be delayed because had the authorities taken care a little earlier many wild cats would have been saved.
Still there is an argument over the death causes as reportedly certain experts are of the view that the radio collars caused abrasion and the moisture that accumulated under the collars due to the monsoon humidity resulted in septicaemia or an infection of the blood but on the contrary the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), has been claiming that Cheetahs died due to natural causes.
Whatever is the reason, the end result seems to be that the project Cheetah, which saw extensive attention of government, media and the people is right now on the edge and probability is rife that it would soon be termed as a failure and total waste of exchequer.
It is now crucial for the authorities to take immediate action to prevent further loss of life and restore public trust in the project. Efforts should focus on improving the medical care and conditions for the remaining cheetahs, as well as conducting thorough investigations to determine the true causes of death.
