NTCA statement on cheetah deaths 'political', mocks conservation science, says Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh alleges NTCA's statement on cheetah deaths at Kuno National Park is political & intended to whitewash management failures. He claims there is evidence to expose the statement & post-mortem reports will determine exact cause. NTCA also plans to establish Cheetah Research Centre.

Former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Monday alleged that the National Tiger Conservation Authority's statement attributing the death of cheetahs at Kuno National Park to "natural causes" was a political one intended at "whitewashing management failures and it mocks conservation science".

The Congress General Secretary's remarks come a day after the NTCA, in a statement released by the Environment Ministry on Sunday, said preliminary analysis of Cheetah mortalities at Kuno National Park point to natural causes.

Of the 20 translocated cheetahs from South Africa and Namibia, death of five adult animals have been reported from the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, till date.

Explained | Cheetahs and tigers: the saga of big cats in India 

"As per the preliminary analysis by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex body entrusted with the implementation of Project Cheetah, all mortalities are due to natural causes," the statement said.

"There are reports in the media attributing these Cheetah deaths to other reasons including their radio collars etc. Such reports are not based on any scientific evidence but are speculation and hearsay," it said.

Reacting to the statement, Mr. Ramesh alleged, "Predictably the prime minister must have intervened and got the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to issue this statement attributing all eight cheetah deaths so far at Kuno to 'natural' causes." "The statement is clearly a political one, intended to whitewash management failures and mocks conservation science," he said in a tweet.