A cub of African hunting cheetah Maya died at the Mysore zoo at 5 a.m. here on Tuesday. The other four cubs are said to be fine.
Zoo Executive Director B.P. Ravi said in a press release here that the health condition of the female cub, which was very weak from the day of its birth, deteriorated following the death of its mother on June 12. The cub refused to take food and was suffering from diarrhoea, he added.
“In spite of the treatment given to it, the cub did not survive,” Mr. Ravi said.
Maya died from feline infectious peritonitis, a fatal incurable viral disease. The cheetah’s five cubs were kept under constant observation after their mother’s death.
The cubs had been weaned off milk and were being fed chicken.
Maya was brought to the Mysore zoo from Leipzig zoo in Germany, along with three other cheetahs under an animal exchange programme in March last year. It was paired with six-year-old Tejas and Maya gave birth to five cubs on March 29, 2012.
The zoo authorities said in a recent press release that this was the first captive breeding of cheetahs in India.
