The deaths of five adult cheetahs out of the 20 brought from South Africa and Namibia, and of three cubs born in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, have raised concern about the Rs. 90 crore project launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The statistics and lack of transparency do not add to the credibility of this first intercontinental cheetah introduction programme. Last week, the explanation of radio collars causing fatal bacterial infections was added to the mix, and then retracted by the environment ministry as “speculation and hearsay without scientific evidence”. But radio collars were removed all the same from