Junagadh Gujarat News – Shakkarbaug Zoo 2011

Indian summer too hot for Cheetahs from Singapore.

Authorities in the Shakkarbaug Zoo of Gujarat’s Junagadh Town have removed a pair of Cheetahs received from Singapore in June last year from public view as the animals could not bear the intense heat wave sweeping the state.

The Cheetahs - a male and a female - were brought to Junagadh in exchange for three Asiatic lions which were sent to the Singapore Zoo by the Gujarat government last year.

‘We have removed the Cheetahs from public view as both the animals were found not liking Indian summer temperatures and have been lodged in a private enclosure having a temperature-controlled environment. This is also their first summer in India,’ a senior wing official of the wildlifeJunagadh District forest department told IANS.

He said that the Cheetahs are provided purified drinking water and food approved by veterinary doctors so as to ensure that they do not fall sick. The Cheetahs would be out of public view for a month and would be taken out only when the temperature suits their bodies.

As many as 30 Cheetahs brought by various zoos in India from various countries for breeding purposes during the past two decades have all died as they could not adjust to the harsh Indian climate during summer months, he added.