First we relocated humans from two dozen villages. We captured and relocated leopards from the Kuno National Park area to limit big-cat conflict. Then, for reasons that were never urgent, we spent public money to import 29 cheetahs from three African countries seven decades after they had gone extinct in India and the food chain had stabilised in their absence. Over four years, 36 cubs were born and 10 adult cheetahs died. Now it emerges that we cannot even protect them from poachers. The death of a 19-month-old cub from pellet injuries should jolt the authorities into action. Accountability must be fixed for lapses in a well-thought-out programme that learnt from other conservation efforts.