Centre orders high-level probe into pellet-shooting death of cheetah at Kuno National Park

Key facts

• The Centre deputed a high-level team comprising the Inspector General of Forests of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and two Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) officials to investigate the death of a 19-month-old male cheetah, KNG22, from firearm pellet injuries outside Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
• The cheetah, an offspring of Cheetah Nirva, was rescued on Sunday evening from the Pahargarh range in Morena's territorial forests and taken to Kuno National Park, where emergency surgery at the Jabalpur veterinary facility recovered five pellets; it died on October 27, 2026.
• This is the first killing of a reintroduced cheetah in India since the species was reintroduced four years ago, with eight cheetahs brought from Namibia in September 2022, 20 from South Africa in February 2023, and nine from Botswana earlier in 2026.
• So far 58 cubs have been born in Kuno, of which 40 survived; currently 52 cheetahs are in Kuno National Park and its surroundings, four in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, and two in Virangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Damoh district.
• The Madhya Pradesh government has constituted a Special Task Force (STF) of forest and police officers, and the central team will examine security protocols, monitoring and protection measures in coordination with the state machinery.