Cheetah Deaths: IFS Officer With Key Contribution To Kuno National Park Removed As MP's Chief Wildlife Warden

The Madhya Pradesh government dismissed J S Chauhan from his role as the state's chief wildlife warden on Monday (17 July).

Chauhan, a highly respected 1987 IFS officer known for his expertise in wildlife conservation, was instrumental in the development of Kuno National Park.

During his tenure as the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), he had planned for the introduction of Asiatic Gir lions to the park. However, this project was put on hold due to an extended legal battle in the Supreme Court.

Despite the setback with the lion introduction, Chauhan shifted his focus to an ambitious project: the introduction of cheetahs from Africa.

Unfortunately, this initiative became controversial due to a series of cheetah deaths that occurred under Chauhan's leadership as the chief warden.

In light of the recent cheetah deaths, Chauhan was faced with difficult decisions. He expressed his consideration of removing radio collars from 10 cheetahs to monitor for infections. He emphasised that while the radio collar itself may not be the primary cause of the deaths, it could contribute to the issue and needs to be addressed.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) stated on Sunday (16 July) that the reports of cheetah deaths caused by radio collars lacked scientific evidence. They asserted that all the cheetah mortalities were due to natural causes.

Adrian Tordiffe, an expert on South African cheetahs who participated in the relocation of the cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa, expressed "shock" when he learned that Chauhan, "an expert and quite a sensible man," had been removed, the Indian Express reported.

In an order issued by Mohit Bundas, the Deputy Secretary of the MP forest department on behalf of the MP Governor, Chauhan was removed from the position of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and transferred to the production department.

Asim Srivastava, another senior 1988 batch IFS officer, will take over the vacated position.

Chauhan previously served at the Kuno National Park as its DFO from 1998 to 2004. His time at Kuno was marked by a successful rehabilitation programme for local tribal villages, which earned him the respect of the community.

He is said to have made a significant contribution to the rejuvenation of the Kuno landscape.

The cheetah reintroduction programme began at Kuno Park with the translocation of 20 cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa in September 2022 and February 2023, respectively. The aim of this programme is to revive India's cheetah population.

Since March, a total of eight cheetahs have unfortunately passed away.