How Chambal's lawlessness killed a cheetah: Five pellets in body, killers at large

KNG 22 was a 19-month-old male cheetah found critically injured near territorial forest compartment 748 in Sheopur district. A monitoring team discovered him immobile on October 25. He was moved first to Kuno National Park and then to the State Veterinary College in Jabalpur. He died during treatment on October 27.

The decisive evidence came from a CT scan at the Jabalpur veterinary college. It showed five pellets inside the cheetah’s body. Doctors performed surgery to remove them, confirming that he had been shot. However, the gunshots had already caused internal injuries, and he did not survive.

The attackers were unidentified and remained at large. The State Tiger Strike Force was sent to Kuno on October 26 to investigate. The incident is the first fatal man-animal conflict involving a cheetah since India began its reintroduction project.

Project Cheetah is India’s programme to bring cheetahs back into the country. The article says Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched it at Kuno National Park in September 2022. Adults were translocated from Africa, and some cubs have since been born in India.

The project matters because it is designed to reintroduce a wild cat that is no longer present in India. Its animals are being monitored and moved among protected areas. KNG 22 was one of the project’s young cheetahs, born to Nirva, a female translocated from South Africa in February 2023.

The article does not give a detailed explanation of the ecological reasons for restoring cheetahs. It does show the project’s scale and vulnerability. A fatal shooting outside Kuno became a major protection failure and a serious blow to the reintroduction effort.

After KNG 22’s death, the cheetah population raised under Project Cheetah stood at 58. This total includes adults brought from Africa and cubs born in India. The figure shows that the programme now depends on both international translocation and successful births within the country.

Kuno National Park houses 54 cheetahs. The remaining four are spread across two newer locations. Two were recently introduced into Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, and two into Durgawati Tiger Reserve, both in Madhya Pradesh.

These locations represent an attempt to broaden the cheetahs’ territorial footprint beyond Kuno. At the same time, KNG 22’s shooting shows that expanding the population also requires strong protection outside the main park. The article does not provide updated survival or breeding figures beyond the total of 58.

KNG 22 was found near territorial forest compartment 748 in Sheopur district, outside Kuno National Park. The article does not state why he was there. It identifies him as part of a three-member wild cat coalition and says a monitoring team had been deployed to follow the cheetahs.

The team reported KNG 22 immobile on the evening of October 25. He was rescued from jungles near Kuno and shifted to the park by night. After his condition was assessed, he was taken to Jabalpur for treatment. These monitoring and rescue steps were the protection measures described in the article.

The article gives no details about patrols, fencing, armed guards, or other security arrangements in the forest compartment. It calls the failure to protect the cheetah a major lapse. The shooting therefore exposed a gap between monitoring the animal and securing the wider landscape.

When a reintroduced animal is killed, the programme loses one of its carefully established animals. The death also reveals that legal protection has failed in practice. In KNG 22’s case, the article calls the incident a major lapse and a big blow for Project Cheetah.

The consequences were immediate. KNG 22’s death reduced the project population to 58. He was a young male born in India to Nirva, a female brought from South Africa. The shooting also triggered an investigation, with the State Tiger Strike Force sent to Kuno on October 26.

The article does not describe any new protection policy after the killing. The attackers were still unidentified and at large. That unresolved case adds pressure to protect cheetahs as the project expands from Kuno to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and Durgawati Tiger Reserve.

Regions with many illegal firearms make it easier for armed people to attack wildlife. A history of poaching shows that animals are already being targeted there. Reintroduced animals can be especially exposed because their movements may be monitored, but their wider surroundings may remain difficult to secure.

The article links both risks to the Chambal region. It describes the area as having a higher-than-average crime rate and a large number of legal and illegal firearms. It also says two leopards had been poached months earlier in the area where the injured cheetah was found.

KNG 22 was discovered with five pellets in his body and later died from internal injuries. The State Tiger Strike Force was sent to investigate. The article does not identify the shooters, but the case shows why releasing animals requires protection across the landscape, not only inside a named national park.

Wildlife reintroduction is the process of returning a species to a country or habitat where it is no longer present. Project Cheetah uses this approach by bringing adult cheetahs from Africa to India and supporting births in the country. The aim described in the article is to reintroduce the wild cat into India.

Simply releasing animals is not enough because they can move beyond a park’s boundaries. KNG 22 was part of a three-member coalition and was being monitored near Kuno. Even so, he was shot near forest compartment 748. A CT scan found five pellets, and he later died from internal injuries.

Reintroduction therefore also needs ongoing monitoring, veterinary care, safe landscapes, and action against armed attackers. The article highlights these needs through KNG 22’s death, the earlier leopard poaching, and the expansion to two additional reserves. It does not detail every protection measure used.