Mother cheetah, 4 cubs pelted with stones in MP
A female cheetah and her four cubs were pelted with stones on Monday as they tried to hunt a calf on the outskirts of a village in Madhya Pradesh, raising concerns over the implementation of Project Cheetah among conservationists and wildlife activists.
According to official sources, the incident occurred around 9 am near a village in Sheopur district, where cheetahs from Africa were introduced under the project to establish a meta population in India.
“Today, around 9 am, Jwala and her four cubs tried to hunt a cattle calf on the outskirts of Behardha village near farmlands. Seeing this, some villagers gathered and created a commotion to save the calf. One or two people also threw stones,” an official source said.
The monitoring team present tried to prevent any further incident. Due to the disturbance, the cheetahs retreated into the forest. All five cheetahs are healthy and safe, the source said. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma urged people not to panic and allow the animals to move freely.
