Kuno was an overdue project, a highly ambitious one at that for it promised to bring back the Asiatic cheetah subspecies. They roamed freely until hunted to extinction in 1948 owing to the big game hunting propogated by the erstwhile Maharajas in the name of virility and pride. So it was a matter of national pride when the bearded visage of our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed those long prized felines into Kuno, attracting well deserved international publicity.
Alas, not all is well in paradise, for what seemed to project enormous rewards is now under the threat of death. Father Time with his cruel embrace has snatched away 9 cheetahs from this sanctuary, with the latest death being a mere hours back. A post mortem is being conducted to ascertain the valid cause of death. Project Cheetah was what started it all, with 20 animals being imported from Namibia and later on 4 cubs being born from the cheetah named Jwala.
The Supreme Court has expressed concern as well, for this understandably does not project a good picture of the sanctuary and now doubts are being raised in all fairness as to whether Kuno is large enough to accomodate this majestic big cats known to achieve a top speed of 100km/h while running and also the only members of the big cat family incapable of roaring.
It has been actively stipulated though, this is not an issue that is limited to Kuno itself. In fact common one in all efforts for cheetah conservation. Not bad news galore, in fact India’s perseverance in this issue may well add some much required notches to the cheetah population over the years. Tbilisi, another of these cheetahs successfully conducted her first hunt on International Cheetah Day, standing out as bright as burnished gold and essentially the reason why the efforts must go on.