Female cheetah brought from Namibia falls ill, suffers from kidney problem

SHEOPUR: Female cheetah Shasha, which is among the eight Cheetahs brought from Namibia, has fallen ill and reportedly suffers from kidney problem and dehydration, a forest official said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs, including three female cheetahs brought from Namibia at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on the occasion of his birthday on September 17, 2022.

The forest administration has taken out Shasha from the large enclosure and shifted it to a smaller enclosure for treatment. The cheetah has been kept under the observation of doctors and a team of veterinary experts from Bhopal has also been called for its observation.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Kumar Verma said, "A daily monitoring of eight cheetahs brought from Namibia is being done here. During this, it was found that the female cheetah, Shasha, was a bit weak. After that Shasha was kept under the observation of the doctors and she was fed, then it came to light that she is weak and needs separate medical tests."

"After that she was tested. A case of dehydration as well as a slight effect in the kidney have come to light in the test. Besides, we did not have some machines, and had to get sonography done, so a team of doctors was called from Bhopal. The doctors arrived here with a portable machine and conducted the test. They will provide the reports of the test later," DFO Verma said, adding that its complete reporting would be done in Bhopal and his senior officers would be able to give further detailed information about it.

Two local doctors and a doctor from WII (Wildlife Institute of India) are present at Kuno National Park in the district for the observation of cheetahs. After the information that Shasha fell ill, a team of doctors from Van Vihar National Park in the state capital Bhopal also reached the Kuno Park on Wednesday evening, in which Dr Atul Gupta, Chief Veterinarian of Van Vihar National Park and his associate doctors were present.