South African cheetah injured in fight at India’s national park

By Xinhua

NEW DELHI, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A South African male cheetah was injured in a fight with other cheetahs at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, officials said Wednesday.
   The injured cheetah is undergoing treatment and his condition was stated to be stable.
   According to forest department officials, the translocated cheetah sustained injuries on Monday evening following a fight with other cheetahs from Namibia presumably over territory.
   "The injured male cheetah is under veterinary care and responded well to the treatment," a forest department official said.
   Wildlife experts say cheetahs tend to hold large home ranges, and they often clash with other groups coming near them.
   Last year in September, the Indian government reintroduced cheetahs in the South Asian country for the first time, decades after declaring them extinct from their Indian habitat. Eight cheetahs - five females and three males - were flown from Windhoek in Namibia to Madhya Pradesh in a customized cargo plane and kept at Kuno National Park, their new home.
   Later on in February this year, a second batch of 12 more cheetahs were flown from South Africa.
   So far six cheetahs, including three of the four cubs born in the park, have died since March.
   India's cheetah reintroduction program is aimed at reviving the population of cheetahs in India, where they became extinct over 70 years ago.
   Prior to their extinction from India in 1952, cheetahs used to share space with other big cats like lions and tigers in the forests.
   The transportation of cheetahs last year into India was declared by the Indian government as the "world's first intercontinental large wild carnivore translocation project."  Enditem