Why can’t satellite collars live-track cheetahs? Kuno director explains in note after cub’s death

Satellite collars fitted on cheetahs do not provide live tracking and cannot offer continuous monitoring, according to Kuno National Park Director Uttam Kumar Sharma. This revelation arrives as officials face scrutiny over the mishandling of KNG22, a 19-month-old cheetah that died after being found injured and seriously wounded in the Sheopur territorial forest division on October 25.

The cub, a male offspring of South African cheetah Nirva, died during treatment at the veterinary facility in Jabalpur on October 27. KNG22 had multiple foreign bodies, including five firearm pellets, lodged in his body. Sharma's note aims to clarify the limitations of satellite-based wildlife monitoring, emphasizing that a satellite location only provides a specific geographical position at a given moment.

The information, once transmitted to the monitoring team, may be outdated by the time personnel arrive at the reported location, as cheetahs can travel several kilometers within a short time frame. Sharma explains that satellite collars transmit location data at six-hour intervals, a balance struck between obtaining location data and ensuring the collar's battery longevity.

However, missed scheduled transmissions can significantly delay the acquisition of new location information. Temporary signal loss due to dense vegetation, rocky terrain, caves, or poor satellite geometry is not uncommon and does not necessarily indicate a malfunction. The challenges of monitoring cheetahs in Kuno's extensive terrain are substantial, as these animals cover significant distances daily and move unpredictably.

Even when a new location is received, monitoring teams often have to venture on foot or in vehicles to track the animal, which can be a physically demanding task and carries inherent risks. The state government has formed a Special Task Force to investigate the incident, which has resulted in the suspension of six forest department officials.