Following a letter sent by four South African wildlife veterinarians and cheetah experts to the Supreme Court expressing “serious concerns” over the management of Project Cheetah, two of them have asked that their names to be withdrawn on the grounds that it could impede future exports of the animal from Africa.
On Wednesday, the Environment Ministry confirmed yet another death — the sixth since February — of an adult cheetah. Though the cause of death was not official, it is suspected to be from infection by parasites that lodged into open wounds on the cheetah’s back. There are suggestions that the wounds may have been from the collars chafing against the cheetah’s skin. Following similar deaths among two cheetahs in the past month, all of the remaining cheetahs — most of which were released into the wild—have been brought back into enclosures, their collars removed and are undergoing a physical examination.
On July 15, a letter by Professor Adrian Tordiffe, Veterinary Wildlife Specialist, University of Pretoria, to the Supreme Court expressed “serious concerns” on how Project Cheetah was being managed and “(their) expert opinion was being ignored” by the Project Steering Committee.
