A 19-month-old male cheetah cub born to Nirva at Kuno National Park died from pellet injuries a day after it was found injured in the forests of Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district, making this the first such incident in the country since the reintroduction project.Chief Wildlife Warden of MP, Samita Rajora, confirmed to The Indian Express, “The cub is not alive anymore”. Rakora has not commented on the nature of the injuries yet.Dr Shobha Jawre from the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur, confirmed that the cheetah cub died due to pellet injuries. “We have submitted our report to the wildlife officials. The pellets were removed from the Cheetah cub’s body during an operation.”The cub was found injured by a monitoring team on Sunday evening in the Pahargarh range of the Morena Territorial Forest Division. The cub was subsequently shifted to Jabalpur for advanced veterinary care, where doctors repeatedly found evidence of a gunshot injury and removed pellets during surgery.The State Tiger Strike Force (STSF), a specialised wildlife crime investigation unit, has been deployed to the area and is identifying those responsible. The unit is now focused on looking at a suspected poaching angle along with human-animal conflict.The investigation has acquired particular significance because the cub was found in a forest landscape that has recently been the focus of a major investigation into leopard poaching. An alleged interstate network was uncovered earlier this year after investigators linked the killing of at least 10 leopards to forest divisions in the wider Kuno, Morena and Sheopur landscape. More than 10 people were arrested in connection with the alleged racket, according to previous reports.The possibility of human involvement had been among the explanations examined when the cub was first found. Other possibilities, including an encounter with another wild animal, were also considered before medical findings pointed to a gunshot injury.Story continues below this adThe biggest challenge for wildlife officials is protecting cheetahs as they venture beyond the national park into surrounding territorial forests, where responsibility for their safety is shared across multiple forest divisions.The cub was radio-collared and was being monitored by a dedicated team. The Kuno authorities took responsibility for its rescue and treatment, while territorial forest officials became central to the investigation because the incident occurred within their jurisdiction.Morena’s rugged ravines and the reported availability of locally made firearms add to the challenges faced by forest personnel. The first action plan for Project Cheetah had flagged the presence of country-made firearms and other hunting implements in the wider landscape as potential threats to wildlife.Wildlife officials had specifically identified shooting, snaring, trapping, poisoning and electrocution as threats requiring urgent protection measures around Kuno and the wider landscape.Story continues below this adIt called for additional patrols on foot and in vehicles, led by senior forest officers and supported by armed forest staff and police personnel. The plan also proposed using the M-STrIPES patrol-monitoring system to record and strengthen protection efforts.Officials had also stressed on the need for intelligence gathering at bus stands, roadside eateries, liquor shops, hotels and railway stations through local contacts, as well as CCTV checkpoints on the Pohari-Gwalior, Pohari-Shivpuri and Pohari-Sheopur highways to monitor vehicle movements. Proposals were also made for recruiting local residents, including members of the Mogiya and Sahariya communities, as paid informants in villages around Kuno.