A Spotted Ghost Lost: The Killing of Cheetah KNG-22 and What It Means for Cheetah Conservation
There are animals that move through the world like a poem, and the cheetah is one of them. Tear-lined eyes, a body built from wind, and a stillness that seems to listen to the whole sky.
Last week, that poem was cut short in a forest in central India.
Photo: Jake-Lee Coetzee | Adventure Lifestyle Magazine
What Happened to Cheetah KNG-22
On 25 October 2026, a 19-month-old male cheetah known as KNG-22 was found badly injured in the forests of Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh. Despite treatment, he died on 27 October. Forest officials recovered five metal pellets from his abdomen, which pointed to human involvement.
KNG-22 was born at Kuno National Park to a female cheetah named Nirva, one of the cheetahs brought to India from South Africa. In other words, he carried a little of our soil in his story.
The Arrests
The Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force has arrested two brothers, Bhagwan Singh and Pritam Singh, from Morena district. Authorities say one brother was arrested on 31 October and led officers to the other. Both are reported to have admitted firing at the cheetah with a licensed double-barrelled muzzle-loading gun, which was recovered from forest land in Morena. The STF has said it found no sign of a larger poaching network. As with any case still moving through the courts, the details are still unfolding.
Six forest department staff have also been suspended for alleged negligence of duty. Details were reported by ThePrint, Gulf News and IANS via Prokerala.
Photo: Jake-Lee Coetzee | Adventure Lifestyle Magazine
Why This Loss Matters
Reports describe this as the first cheetah shot dead in India in almost 79 years, in the middle of Project Cheetah, the ambitious programme that brought cheetahs back to a country where they had been declared extinct. The loss is a heavy blow to a programme the world has been watching closely.
The cheetah is the fastest land animal on earth, yet it has very little left to run across. Habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict and illegal killing keep squeezing a species that can only survive when people and wild places learn to share space. Every young adult matters for the genetic future of the species.
Photo: Jake-Lee Coetzee | Adventure Lifestyle Magazine
Cheetah Conservation Hope in Southern Africa
There is hope too. The Endangered Wildlife Trust has led cheetah conservation work in southern Africa for years and reports that South Africa is one of the few places where cheetah numbers are growing. And for another species fighting for the skies, the team at Vulpro is proof of what dedicated people can do.
More Conservation Stories From Adventure Lifestyle Magazine
This is not the only voice we raise for the wild. Read more:
What We Can Do
Support credible conservation organisations protecting big cats and their habitat.
Choose lodges and operators that put wildlife first and give back to local communities.
Share honest stories, because awareness is the first step to protection.
Respect wildlife always, because to be silent is to listen, and she speaks.
Final Thoughts
KNG-22 only had nineteen months. May his story make us louder, kinder and braver for the ones still running.
Photo: Jake-Lee Coetzee | Adventure Lifestyle Magazine
Written by Jake-Lee Coetzee, Adventure Lifestyle Magazine. Find the wanderlust in the mundane. All cheetah photographs © Jake-Lee Coetzee.
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