The Asiatic cheetah used to be called the Indian cheetah. Historically, it used to live across the breadth of the country, from Rajasthan, through the uppermost regions of the Deccan Traps to West Bengal.
Due to its hunting abilities and the sheer fascination of being the fastest land animal, cheetahs were relentlessly sought after throughout the middle ages.
They were either kept captive and used for hunting other animals, or it was a matter of pride for hunters to kill the “fastest animal on land”.
The hunting only increased with the arrival of the British. The situation never improved, and the last cheetah to be spotted in India was in 1951.
Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Korea, Madhya Pradesh is believed to have killed the last three cheetahs in the country in 1947.
In 1952, the Indian government officially declared the cheetah extinct in the country. Since then, it has lost the “Indian” tag.
Kuno National Park in MP offers the prospect of housing tiger, lion, leopard and cheetah – and allowing them to coexist as in the past
12 cheetahs arrived in Madhya Pradesh from South Africa and were released into the quarantine enclosures, 5 months after the first batch of 8 of these fastest land animals were brought there from Namibia