The Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in India's Madhya Pradesh state are soon going to be the new home of a second batch of cheetahs that will be relocated from South Africa.
Cheetah Project head SP Yadav told an Indian news agency that wildlife officials are preparing the two sites and that work is in full swing at the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, which is expected to be ready by December.
Officials have started building a prey-revival area, but it is yet to get prey and will take time.
According to a National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) official, a female cheetah from Namibia passed away due to a kidney ailment, and a South African female cheetah died during a courtship conflict. Additionally, three male cheetahs from South Africa and a female cheetah from Namibia lost their lives due to dermatitis, or a skin infection.
To prevent the deaths of the cheetahs, the steering committee has made some suggestions.
One of them proposes that cheetahs with thinner coats from the northern hemisphere should be introduced instead of the previous ones, which had “thicker winter coats,” as they did not suit the humid weather conditions during monsoons in India.
Cheetahs from the northern hemisphere are said to be more suitable for the Indian climate, Dr Gopal said, adding that a dry climate is ideal for cheetahs as it supports gregarious groups of fast-running animals.
Dr Gopal also added that experts are also working on introducing state-of-the-art lightweight radio collars.