Sasha, one of the Namibian cheetas, dies at Kuno National Park

New Delhi: One of the Namibian cheetahs named Sasha died Monday at the Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), where the felines were translocated from the African country in September 2022.

The female cheetah, Sasha, was more than four-and-a-half years old and was diagnosed with hepatorenal, a kidney and liver-related infection, earlier this week. 

She was among eight cheetahs translocated from Namibia in September last year and housed in KNP in Sheopur district.

Sasha had some liver and kidney problems and was being treated by three veterinarians who were in constant touch with cheetah experts from Namibia and South Africa.

Sasha was reportedly brought to India from a captive facility named 'Cheetah Conservation Fund', located 44 kilometres from the Namibian city of Otjiwarongo.

Captive cheetahs often face renal (kidneys) problems, which are rare in big cats living in the wild.

As per her dossier, Sasha was born on April 1, 2018, and underwent a health screening in August last year and vaccinated before being flown to India a month later. The wild cat weighed 32 kilograms at that time.

The eight Namibian cheetahs - five female and three male - were released into their enclosures at KNP on September 17 last year at a high-profile event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The last cheetah died in India in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the fastest land animal was declared extinct in the country in 1952.

A dozen more cheetahs - seven males and five females – were brought to the KNP from South Africa on February 18, 2023. The KNP is now home to 20 cheetahs.