NTCA statement on cheetah deaths aimed at concealing management failures, says Congress

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Congress on Monday hit out at the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for attributing the death of eight cheetahs to natural causes and termed the statement clearly "political", intended to whitewash management failures.

Taking to twitter, Congress General Secretary Communication incharge, Jairam Ramesh said, "Predictably the PM (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) must have intervened and got the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to issue this statement attributing all 8 cheetah deaths so far at Kuno to 'natural' causes.

"The statement is clearly a political one, intended to whitewash management failures and mocks conservation science. There appears to be enough evidence to expose the NTCA statement,"

Ramesh, who is a former Union Minister of Environment, said in a tweet attaching a news report.

His remarks comes after eight cheetahs brought from Africa died in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park in the past four months.

Five adult cheetahs among the 20 brought into Kuno from Africa and three of the four cubs born in Kuno have died since March.