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| India: Female cheetah dies from injuries sustained during sex with two male cheetahs |
A female cheetah has died in the Kono National Park in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Three female cheetahs have been found dead here since March.
The park said in a statement that the female cheetah was found injured on Tuesday morning and was treated by doctors but died by afternoon.
According to the park, initial reports indicated that he died from injuries sustained during copulation (the sexual union of a male and a female for reproduction) with two male cheetahs.
The trio was sent from South Africa earlier this year to reintroduce the cheetah to India.
The female cheetah that died on Tuesday was named Daksha. He was kept in a compartment next to two male leopards named Agni and Vayu.
"Wildlife officials and experts from India and South Africa held a meeting on April 30 in which it was decided to allow Daksha to meet the two males and the one between their cages a day later," the statement said. The door was opened.'
The male cheetah entered the female's home on May 6.
"It is normal for male cheetahs to behave violently towards females during mating and the monitoring team can't intervene during this," the statement added.
India reintroduced the cheetah last year, 70 years after the animal went extinct in the country.
The reintroduction of cheetahs in the country has created excitement and any news related to them has made headlines.
Last month, a male cheetah named Uday died and authorities attributed his death to heart failure. He was one of the 12 cheetahs brought to India from South Africa in February.
On March 27, a female cheetah, which was part of the first batch of animals brought from Namibia, died of suspected kidney disease. She was part of a group of eight (five males and three females) who were airlifted to India last year.
On arrival in India, the cheetah was kept in a controlled quarantine zone in Kano before being released into the wild. Their movements are being monitored.
On March 29, a female cheetah in Namibia gave birth to four cubs.
Cheetahs hold a lot of importance in India as they are a part of many folk tales. But it is the only mammal that became extinct after independence in 1947 due to hunting, habitat loss, and lack of prey.