South African cheetah Tejas died due to 'traumatic shock,' postmortem report reveals

A South African cheetah, Tejas, died at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) on Tuesday . The postmortem report  on Wednesday revealed that it was internally weak and going through multiple different problems which eventually led to the feline’s death. 

It also revealed that Tejas had a violent fight with a female cheetah and was unable to recover from the “traumatic shock”. 

According to a forest official, it was confirmed in the report that the cheetah had an infection in its lungs and kidneys. 

The animal also had injury marks on its neck, the report claimed. 

After the postmortem, samples of the cheetah's internal organs were sent to the School of Wildlife Forensic and Health in Jabalpur for additional examination.

According to the report, the cheetah weighed approximately 43 kilograms, which is below the typical weight for male cheetahs. Additionally, its internal organs were not functioning properly.

The report stated that the chances of the cheetah recovering and becoming healthy in this condition were quite low.

The report suggests that due to its internal weakness, Tejas was unable to recover from the trauma sustained during a violent altercation with a female cheetah.

"Prima facie, the cause of the death is traumatic shock," the report said.

Tejas, a five-and-a-half-year-old cheetah, became the seventh cheetah to die within a span of four months at Kuno National Park, along with three cubs born to Namibian cheetah 'Jwala' .

Tejas was brought to the park from South Africa in February of this year. This unfortunate event marks another setback for the central government's cheetah reintroduction program, which was launched with great enthusiasm in September of the previous year.

The Kuno National Park initially had a total of 24 cheetahs, including 20 translocated from Namibia and South Africa, as well as four cubs born within the park itself. However, with the recent deaths, the overall cheetah population at the park has dwindled to 17 individuals. 
 

Also Read: