Sasha, Uday cheetahs death linked with captivity related issues
The Community News/New Delhi
The two cheetahs, Shasha and Uday has died due to captivity related issues in Kuno National Park, an Indian government official said on Monday.
Sasha and Uday were brought from Namibia and South Africa respectively under the Indian government’s ambitious plan to reintroduce the majestic animal in the country.
Sasha reportedly was detected with chronic renal insufficiency in January after her blood tests. She was treated by veterinary officials at Kuno National park but she later died in March.
“A post-mortem confirmed the initial diagnosis. Chronic renal failure is a common problem in captive cheetahs and many other captive felid species.
Sasha was born in the wild in Namibia but spent a large proportion of her life in captive conditions at CCF,” the spokesperson said.
The official said Uday had developed acute neuromuscular symptoms in April after he was released in a larger acclimatisation camp.
He was treated for the disease but he too succumbed to the disease.
“The initial examination revealed that he had most likely died of terminal cardio-pulmonary failure.
Failure of the heart and lungs is common in the terminal stages of many conditions and does not provide much information about the underlying cause of the problem,” the official added.
The government is conducting further tests to ascertain other causes but asserted that other cheetahs do not have such issues and they are perfectly healthy.
