Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A cheetah that had escaped from Kuno National Park died after being hit by a speeding vehicle on the Agra - Mumbai National Highway early on Sunday morning.
The incident happened
between 5 and 6 am on Shivpuri Link Road, near Ghatigaon’s Simariya turn. Forest officials are still searching for the second cheetah.
The cheetah’s body has been sent to Kuno, where a panel of experts will conduct the post-mortem.
Forest officials had been tracking both cheetahs through their satellite collar IDs. The moment the accident occurred, the monitoring team received an alert
As soon as the information was received, Ghatigaon police and Forest Department officials reached the spot and secured the area. Officers from Kuno also arrived. .
A crowd gathered at the location, but the Forest Department did not allow anyone, including the police, to go near the animal. All procedures were handled directly by forest officials.
Two Cheetahs had escaped
According to officials, two young cheetahs had escaped from Kuno earlier and their location was being tracked near Simariya. Forest teams had been following them continuously.
They had moved from Kuno forest into the Ghatigaon forest area.
Around 5 am on Sunday, they attempted to cross the highway when an unknown high-speed vehicle hit one of them.
The impact was so strong that the cheetah fell by the roadside and died on the spot. Locals informed the police and Forest Department after spotting the dead animal.
Attacked cow a day ago
On Saturday evening, the cheetahs attacked a cow in the Simariya area and killed it. Since then, Forest Department teams had been camping in the region.
Cheetahs are considered a national heritage species in India. They were brought from African countries as part of a major project to reintroduce cheetahs in India, where they had become extinct.
Because of this, they are kept under special monitoring, and forest teams follow them even if they move out of Kuno’s boundaries.
