Bhopal/Gwalior, Dec 6 (IANS) In a setback to the ongoing Cheetah conservation project, a tragic accident on the Agra-Mumbai Expressway has claimed the life of one of the cubs.

A speeding vehicle, overlooking warning signs, on early Sunday morning, between 5 and 6 a.m., fatally hit the majestic animal near the Ghatigaon-Simaria turning in Madhya Pradesh’s forested belt.

The motorists reported seeing the animal attempting to cross the highway when it was hit. The cheetah died instantly. Forest officials later confirmed the incident, identifying the animal as KG-3, a female born in Kuno National Park to a female cheetah, ‘Gamini’.

Kuno is central to Project Cheetah, India’s ambitious effort to reintroduce the species, which had gone extinct in the country during the 1940s. According to officials, two cheetahs had strayed into the Ghatigaon jungles from Kuno and were being closely monitored after they killed a cow in the area. While forest staff were keeping a vigil, one of the animals attempted to cross the expressway on Sunday morning and was struck by a fast-moving vehicle, leading to its death.

The incident comes at a time when Project Cheetah is under intense scrutiny. Since 2022, cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa have been relocated to Kuno, and cubs born on Indian soil have marked a milestone in conservation. Yet experts have repeatedly warned that infrastructure projects cutting through forest zones pose a grave risk to the survival of these animals.

The Agra-Mumbai Expressway, part of India’s high-speed road network, has been praised for its engineering but criticised for inadequate safeguards for wildlife. While the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway recently unveiled India’s longest animal overpass corridor to facilitate safe crossings, stretches of the Agra-Mumbai route remain exposed.

Sunday’s accident underscores the urgent need to replicate such measures across all highways intersecting sensitive habitats. Local villagers expressed sorrow, noting that cheetah sightings had become a source of pride since their reintroduction.

As India celebrates the return of the cheetah after seven decades, the death of one on a highway exposes a lapse in conservation success.

–IANS

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