NEW DELHI: The Central Government has dispatched a high-level team to investigate the killing of a 19-month-old cheetah, known as KNG22, in Kuno National Park. In addition, a wildlife activist has filed a petition in the State High Court calling for a CBI inquiry into the incident.
KNG22 was the first cheetah killed in India in the past seven decades, as cheetahs were declared extinct from the country in the 1950s. The last known cheetahs, three in total, were killed in 1947 by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo, the ruler of the princely state of Koriya in Chhattisgarh.
The killing of this cheetah proves a significant setback for India’s cheetah reintroduction project started in 2022. KNG22, an offspring of Cheetah Nirva, was found injured on October 25, 2026, in the territorial forests of Morena, just outside the protected area of Kuno National Park.
According to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, the cheetah was rescued from the Sheopur Territorial Forest Division on the same day and received extensive veterinary care, including emergency surgery, at a facility in Jabalpur.
During the surgery, five firearm pellets were removed from its body. Unfortunately, despite medical intervention, KNG22 succumbed to its injuries on October 27, 2026.
Medical examinations confirmed multiple internal injuries consistent with the removed firearm pellets. In response to this incident, the State Government has established a Special Task Force (STF) comprising Forest and Police officers to conduct an investigation.
The New Indian Express was the first to report the widespread presence of firearms among communities surrounding the project areas, following the government's promise of a firearm surrender campaign.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has constituted a central team that includes the Inspector General of Forests from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the Additional Director of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), and the Regional Deputy Director of the WCCB.
This team will work in collaboration with state authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the cheetah’s death. The central investigating team has been tasked with thoroughly examining all available evidence and working closely with the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department to ensure prompt and decisive action.
They will also review the implementation of security protocols and the monitoring and protection measures in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The findings and recommendations from this central team will be submitted to the Ministry for further guidance to the State Government and field officials. Some experts suggest that the cheetah was killed by local community members, rather than poachers, in an effort to protect their livestock.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dube, who filed the petition in the High Court demanding a CBI inquiry, has accused the state’s forest department of failing to protect the radio-collared cheetah.
He has previously raised similar concerns regarding the deaths of radio-collared leopards and hyenas. Dube stated, “The Field Director and Divisional Forest Officer of Kuno National Park did not take action regarding the radio-collared leopard that was tracked in Kuno and Sheopur.”
He added, “I had demanded action against the forest department at that time. My fear has now come true, as the cheetah has been poached.” Currently, India's cheetah population, including cubs, stands at 58.
Since 2022, India has imported eight cheetahs from Namibia, twelve from South Africa, and nine from Botswana. So far, ten adults and fourteen cubs have died from various unnatural causes, marking this as the first cheetah killing in seven decades.
