Bhopal: Two more cheetah cubs died on Thursday at Kuno National Park, days after the first cub passed away.
Jwala (Siyaya), one of 20 cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa in the last eight months, had given birth to four cubs on March 24.
The only cub alive now has been kept under observation as his health continues to be critical, according to Kuno National Park.
The first cub died of weakness, a forest department official said.
“All the cheetah cubs were found to be weak, underweight and poorly hydrated. Jwala, who delivered for the first time, is from the Hund Riyadh breed. Cubs, when nearly eight weeks old, desire to remain huddled around their mother. They had begun to trod with their mother 8-10 days ago,” Kuno National Park said today.
“As per cheetah experts, the percentage of cub cheetahs surviving in Africa is usually very low. As per protocol, the procedure for post-mortem is underway,” the park added, stating that Jwala is healthy and under observation.
Besides the cubs, three adult African cheetahs have died in the last two months.
According to South African cheetah metapopulation expert Vincent Van Der Merwe, while the loss of one of Siyaya’s cubs is unfortunate, the loss is well within expected mortality rates for cheetah cubs.
“Cub mortality is particularly high for wild cheetahs. For this reason, cheetahs have evolved to give birth to large litters compared to other wild cats. This enables them to compensate for the high cub mortality rate,” Vincent informed.
“The death was attributed to dehydration. Weaker cheetah cubs in a litter will typically suckle less than their stronger siblings. This death should be viewed within the context of ‘survival of the fittest’. As part of the natural selection process, weaker cheetahs will be eliminated from the gene pool. This ensures that only the fittest and strongest survive, to the benefit of wild cheetah survival,” he added.
