Project Cheetah received a setback as Daksha, a female feline died at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park after it was found injured by a monitoring team today.

She is the third big cat to die in the last 40 days at KNP. A forest department official revealed that she was provided necessary medication and treatment but passed away at 12 noon.

Sharing details with the media, J.S. Chauhan, Madhya Pradesh Chief Conservator of Forest said Daksha may have got injured due to a “violent interaction” during mating with an adult male coalition which included Vayu and Agni, two male cheetahs.

While the female was released in enclosure number one the two males were set free from boma 7 for mating. It appears that the male cheetahs turned violent during the process, which is a normal thing, Chauhan observed.

The males often form partnerships with either their brother or unrelated male as it makes hunting easier but at times they compete while mating.

Of the 20 cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa two died in March and April. They were Sasha and Uday.