What are some fun facts about the cheetah?
Some fun facts about the cheetah - they are the fastest animals on land; they can’t roar; they only purr (like a cat).
Cheetahs were a favourite among Indian kings and queens who used their help to hunt other animals. Emperor Akbar had 1000 pet cheetahs!
Though they were native to India once, none are left in the country now.
Why did the cheetah go extinct in India in the first place?
Indians kept capturing cheetah cubs and kept them as pets. This greatly reduced their numbers in the wild. When the British came to India, they hunted here a lot and killed many cheetahs. Due to this, the cheetah became extinct in India in 1952.
Why did the past attempts to bring the cheetah back fail?
In the 1970s, India set up a deal with Iran where we would send them a few Asiatic lions in exchange for Asiatic cheetahs (the same kind of cheetah that used to live in India). Around that time, the people of Iran overthrew their Shah (king) and started a revolution. So goodbye plan! In 2009, India approached Iran again to give us a few of their cheetahs, but this time, Iran refused.
How is the government planning to bring back the cheetah now?
India wanted to get cheetahs from Iran because that’s the same kind of the Asiatic cheetah that lived in India once. But since that’s not happening, we will get the African cheetah.
The Indian government will get eight cheetahs from Namibia, a small country in Africa. The newly arrived cheetahs will be sent to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. If all goes well, we will have cheetahs again - 70 years after they went extinct. Indians will soon be able to see cheetahs in person without going to another country!
