India's native subspecies of the cheetah—the Asiatic cheetah —became extinct there in the mid-20th century. Since then, the Asiatic subspecies has survived only in Iran in critically endangered number
A Southeast African Cheetah inside the quarantine facility in Kuno National Park
The last documented Asiatic cheetahs in India, three males from the same litter, were shot in 1947—while they were sitting together at night—by Maharajah Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Surguja State, Madhya Pradesh, who poses behind them with his rifle. His private secretary provided this picture, which was communicated to the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society on January 9, 1948.
Hunting of blackbuck with Indian cheetah; Drawing by James Forbes, Oriental Memoirs, c.1812
The first cheetah being introduced into the park
The Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project is an initiative of the Indian Government to provide safeguards to the Asiatic lion from extinction in the wild by means of reintroduction. The last wild popula
African cheetah translocation to India
…after a petition was filed against the same. In the petition, it was argued that Kuno, the proposed location for the re-introduction was prepared for reintroduction of native lions from Gir National Park and introducing cheetahs will be used as a pretext to delay the lion re-introduction project. It was also argued that the…
A male Asiatic lion
Asiatic lioness, named MOTI, at Bristol Zoo, England (1996)