Over two years on, Kuno's cheetahs still play a losing Hunger Game

Vanishing prey and fierce competition from leopards keep cheetahs on edge

More than two years after cheetahs were reintroduced in India, a scarcity of prey and fierce competition from leopards for the same food sources remain major concerns for senior officials monitoring the cheetahs’ survival and well-being, Business Standard has learnt. Declared extinct in India in 1952, cheetahs were reintroduced at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh with the translocation of eight from Namibia on September 17, 2022, followed by 12 from South Africa on February 18, 2023.  Currently, there are 26 cheetahs in the national park after 10 died since their reintroduction in India, according to government sources. 

“Prey augmentation