MP: Female cheetah that went untraceable in KNP due to radio collar issue captured after 22 days
Sheopur (MP), Aug 13: A South African female cheetah that went untraceable in the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district since her radio collar stopped working on July 21, was captured on Sunday after a 22-day search operation, officials said.
The cheetah, Nirva, was caught at around 10 am in Dhoret range of the Kuno National Park (KNP), after which a health check-up was conducted on her, they said.
An intense search for the female feline was on for the last 22 days after her radio collar stopped functioning on July 21, a release issued by the Chief Wildlife Warden of the Madhya Pradesh forest department said.
More than 100 field staff, including officers, veterinarians and cheetah trackers were searching for the spotted cat day and night, it said.
Besides the team on ground, two drone teams, one dog squad and available elephants were deployed in the search operation. An area of 15-20 square kilometres was being searched, it said.
In addition to this, local villagers were informed about Nirva and any information received about the feline from villagers was being checked and verified immediately, the release said.
On August 12, information about the cheetah's location was received from the satellite. It gave information about her location on August 11 evening, it stated.
"A search team was immediately sent to the spot and with the help of a drone team and dog squad, a team of veterinarians was able to finally trace Nirva in the evening, but could not capture her," it said.
Nirva looked healthy and was moving, it said, adding that a decision was taken to restart the operation on Sunday morning as it was getting dark. Drone teams were given the task of keeping track of Nirva's location throughout the night.
The search operation started again at 4 am on Sunday as per her location provided by drone teams. It took nearly six hours before Nirva could be captured, it said.
Nirva is healthy and has been kept inside a boma (enclosure) for a further health check-up, the release added.
All 15 cheetahs (seven males, seven females and one female cub) at the KNP are now kept in bomas. They are healthy and continuously being monitored on health parameters by Kuno's team of veterinarians, it said.
Under the Cheetah Reintroduction Project, eight Namibian cheetahs - five female and three male - were released into enclosures at the KNP on September 17 last year. In February, 12 more cheetahs arrived at KNP from South Africa.
In March this year, four cubs were born to a Namibian cheetah named Jwala, but three of them died in May.
Since March, six of the adult cheetahs have died due to various reasons, taking the total death count of felines, including three cubs, to nine.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Youth Congress demands Pradhan's resignation over NEET question paper leak
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Youth Congress activists on Friday staged a protest here demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET question paper leak.
Holding posters, banners and party flags, the Youth Congress activists took out a protest rally in Bhubaneswar from the state Congress office to Master Canteen Square and burnt effigies of Pradhan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The education system has collapsed during the tenure of the BJP-led NDA government, Youth Congress leader Laxmipriya Nayak alleged.
During the past 12 years of Modi's rule, there have been 89 paper leaks and 48 examinations retested, she claimed.
"About 2 crore youths have been affected by the question paper leaks in the last 7-10 years. And, 24 lakh students have been affected by the recent NEET question paper leak incident," another protester, Shilpishree Harichandan, claimed.
"The Union government is playing with the future of the youths of the country. So, Pradhan has no moral right to continue in his position. He should step down," Harichandan said.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) had cancelled the NEET-UG exam, held on May 3, after a paper leak. The Union education minister on Friday announced that the NEET-UG re-exam will be conducted on June 21.
