Researched by: Sara Varghese & Nivedita Bobal

Cheetahs: An Indian history lesson

First, a quick introduction: Cheetahs are the world’s fastest land animal—and can reach “speeds touching 70 miles (112km) an hour to capture prey.” Fun fact: some conservationists don’t consider them a “big cat” because they can’t roar—though they can purr. They are distinct from their similar-looking cousins. Cheetahs are taller than leopards, don’t climb trees and hunt during the day. Jaguars are about the same height but far bulkier:

Numbers & location: There are only 7,100 cheetahs left in the world—and the vast majority are found in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Other than that, there are around 40 Asiatic cheetahs in Iran. They are classified as “vulnerable”—though many argue they should be considered “endangered.” At one time, they roamed the entire stretch between Africa and the Indian subcontinent—but now are limited to 10% of their historic range. You can see the stark change in the map below:

Cheetahs in India: They were once a native species in India—and its name comes from the Sanskrit word chitraka, which means “spotted.” And they roamed the land for centuries:

“The earliest historical references… are in classical Greek records of India, from Strabo, about 200 years before the Common Era. In the Mughal Period, cheetahs were used very extensively for hunting. Emperor Akbar had 1,000 cheetahs in his menagerie. Central India, particularly the Gwalior region, had cheetahs for a very long time. In fact, various states including Gwalior and Jaipur used to hunt with cheetahs.”

There were at least 230 cheetahs in the wild in India between 1799 and 1968. Below is a photo taken in the Deccan around 1885 by a British photographer:

And this is a photo taken in 1890 of a captive cheetah owned by the Maharaja of Baroda:

Finally, here’s a map of where it was found in India:

The road to extinction: During Emperor Akbar’s rule—between 1556 and 1605—there were 10,000 cheetahs. That number fell to mere hundreds by the 19th century. One big factor: The practice of capturing cubs and rearing them in captivity as hunting animals:

“As unimaginable as it sounds, in India, cheetahs have been domesticated as hunting animals for years, with the earliest known mention of it in the 12th century Manasollasa. It is extremely rare for cheetahs to breed in captivity… As a result, over the years, cubs were repeatedly caught in their natural habitat and subsequently domesticated for sport, thereby reducing the number of cheetahs in the wild.”

The arrival of the British did not help matters:

“Hunting, diminishing habitat and non-availability of enough prey—black buck, gazelle and hare—led to the extinction of the cat in India. During the British rule, cheetahs were eliminated through bounty hunting because the cats were entering villages and killing livestock.”

When they died: is a matter of debate. Some say that Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo—the ruler of Koriya in today’s Chhattisgarh—shot the country’s last three surviving cheetahs. They were officially declared extinct in 1952—marking the only large mammal extinction in independent India. But according to The Hindu and BBC News, there were sightings till about 1967-1968. A 2019 study claims they were sighted all the way up until the 1990s. 

Bringing back the cheetah: The big plan

A history of failed attempts: The desire to restore the cheetah is not new. Plans were made soon after it was declared extinct in the 1950s. PM Indira Gandhi took the first real step toward its return in the 1970s—when the Department of Environment formally wrote to the Iranian government to request a trade of Asiatic lions for its cheetahs. Unfortunately, the Shah of Iran was deposed soon after—and Gandhi was distracted by the Emergency. The government reached out again in 2009—but the request was flatly rejected.  And in 2012, the Supreme Court nixed the project calling it “misconceived.” 

The new plan: kicked off in 2020 thanks to a push from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The Supreme Court did a U-turn in the same year—and greenlit the introduction of cheetahs on “an experimental basis.” In 2021, a South African expert visited four potential sites: Kuno-Palpur, Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and Madhav National Park. The NTCA announced the allocation of Rs 140 million (14 crores) toward the effort. 

The first step: The overall aim is to bring 50 African cheetahs to India over the next five years in order to revive their population. The first batch of 12-14 animals will be brought from Namibia or South Africa to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno-Palpur National Park. Kuno is spread across 750 square km—and is home to a sizable population of natural prey, including antelopes, nilgai, wild boars and spotted deer. It also has a mix of woodland and grassland habitat which is very similar to where cheetahs thrive in Africa. The government claims it can host up to 21 cheetahs. 

The process: of introducing the African cheetahs to an Indian environment will be gradual. The “cold release” strategy involves first keeping them in an enclosure—where they are provided with prey to catch and kill—and recover the weight lost to the stress of relocation:

“So, you want to give them a fighting chance. You want to put them in some sort of an enclosure, build them up again and then release them. You also want to introduce them to new prey. Humidity would be a problem for many of these cheetahs; so they require a gentle phase-in.”

Point to note: If successful, this will be the first time that a carnivore as large as the cheetah will be relocated from one continent to another as part of a conservation effort. 

An unexpected roadblock: Three to five cheetahs—provided by the NGO Cheetah Conservation Fund—are expected to arrive in May 2022, and released into the wild by August 15 (interesting choice of date). But their relocation requires the approval of the Namibian government—which has asked for a quid pro quo. It wants New Delhi to support the lifting of a UN ban on wildlife trade. Specifically, Namibia wants to be able to sell its current stockpiles of ivory—and auction 170 African elephants—to raise funds for conservation efforts. India is reluctant to sign on the dotted line since our own laws ban the sale of wildlife body parts.

Hanging on hold: For now, the two countries are at an impasse. And if the Memorandum of Understanding doesn’t go through, the big cheetah plan may well remain a dream—as efforts to source cheetahs from South Africa have fizzled out.

But should we really bring back the cheetahs?

The government has made several arguments for reviving the species—and each has their weakness, as conservationists point out:

One: Introduction of the cheetahs will help restore our vanishing grasslands. The cheetah will act as a “flagship” species—whose conservation helps conserve other, even unrelated, species and sometimes even the entire animal community or ecosystem. As one ecologist puts it: “Given the huge range of issues concerning the conservation of savannah grassland habitats in India, this is a golden opportunity to highlight their precarious condition.” This is especially important in India where we have done a better job of preserving our forests than our grasslands:

“Decades of exploitation have annihilated India’s grasslands, reducing them to degraded and  disconnected islands. Vast swathes have come under the plough, converted to agricultural fields and livestock grazing grounds. Some fell victim to misguided afforestation schemes, irrigation projects, and, more recently, solar panels and wind turbines. Less than 1% of India’s grasslands are effectively protected by law.”

Also this: These grasslands are home to other endangered native species including the wolf and the great Indian bustard. And the cheetah’s survival may well ensure theirs.

But, but, but: Conservationists argue that the cheetah is hardly required to revive grasslands—when we already have other precious native species like the bustard as strong incentive to preserve them. The plan also puts the proverbial cart before the horse. Cheetahs need home ranges of about 1,500 square km. So the grasslands have to be secured first before we bring them in:

“If the government is serious about restoration and protection of these habitats, it first needs to remove grasslands from the category of wastelands and prevent further degradation, fragmentation and destruction of these habitats. Investing directly in science-based restoration and inclusive protection of these ecosystems will yield results much more quickly and sustainably than the introduction of African cheetahs.”

Two: Bringing back the cheetahs will help us meet our climate change goals. This isn’t as unlikely as it sounds. Reviving the wolf population had a huge impact on the Yellowstone National Park in the US. The return of the top predators transformed it “into a biodiverse, fully functioning, carbon-sequestering ecosystem.” And a recent study shows that restoring just 20 large mammal species to their historic habitats can revitalise ecosystems and boost biodiversity across almost one-quarter of the Earth’s land:

“Large mammals, ranging from apex predators like the Yellowstone wolves to medium-size carnivores and herbivores, play vital roles in the environments they inhabit. They influence everything from the behaviour of other animals in the food chain to the diversity and structure of vegetation, and the abundance of rodents and invertebrates. Moreover, studies have found that areas with intact large mammal assemblages typically store more carbon.”

But, but, but: Conservationists challenge the wisdom of spending Rs 40 crore on a risky project to meet goals that can be achieved far more easily and quickly by direct investments in existing habitats. They point out that these areas already have apex predators like leopards, wolves, caracals—and in the case of Kuno, lions which are slated to be relocated to the same sanctuary. And they are in urgent need of protection. Also this:

“Even the Government’s official estimate is expecting, at best, only a few dozen cheetahs at a couple of sites (that too only after 15 years) which will require continuous and intensive management. Such a small number of cats at very few sites cannot meet the stated goal of performing its ecological function at any significant scale to have real on ground impact.”

Three: Cheetahs will boost eco-tourism—which in turn will help preserve wildlife habitats and boost local employment. 

But, but, but: Conservationists are least impressed by this argument—since India hardly has a shortage of tourism-worthy wildlife. In fact, bringing in the cheetah into habitats with other big cats is likely to promote interspecies conflict. Half the wild cheetah deaths in South Africa are attributed to lions and hyenas. But the cheetahs in Kuno will have to contend with a lot more. The plan to relocate lions from Gir to Kuno is still on track. Tigers also travel through the sanctuary—and there is a stable population of leopards:

“There is no science available currently to suggest that cheetahs, lions, tigers and leopards can coexist comfortably in the same habitat. It has never occurred anywhere else before, so there is no real-life experience to draw upon.”

Point to note: Ecologists say if the government is really serious about doing its bit to protect the cheetah, it should opt for a fenced sanctuary such as the Mukundra hills in Rajasthan. The only successful relocations of cheetahs—as in Malawi—have kept them in similar protected areas. 

As for the locals: People living close to Kuno are less-than-enthusiastic about living with another predator: “Cheetah aayega toh ghabrahat toh hogi hi na...What if they attack the villagers?” The government plans to relocate 250 families to make the sanctuary “free from any human habitation”—which will cut them off from the forest: “Since rainfall is scarce here, families depend more on the forest than agriculture. Jungle se hi sab kuch hai.” The last time the locals were displaced to make room for the Gir lions—which never arrived. But their livelihoods “just collapsed,” irrespective.

Four: Perhaps the biggest motivator for the government is national pride—“to get back what we have lost.” As a Wildlife Institute of India official put it: “Now that India is in a condition where it is economically possible to restore our lost heritage, we have restored all the protected areas where cheetahs can be brought back to.”

But, but, but: Conservationists are most worried about exactly this—that the government is driven by symbolism rather than good sense. They point to the lack of adequate planning or weighing of the risks. And above all, they worry this grandiose Project Cheetah will not just fail but do real harm: 

“[I]t is very unlikely that African cheetahs would ever establish themselves in India as a truly wild and self-perpetuating population. A likely unfortunate consequence of this initiative will be the diversion of scarce conservation resources, distraction from the real conservation priorities and a further delay in the translocation of lions to Kuno.”

The bottomline: You know what they say about a bird in hand… How about we protect the big cats we have at hand—rather than go looking for more in the African bush?

Reading list

BBC News and Conde Nast Traveller magazine offer an overview of the history of the cheetah. Ravi Chellam in The Hindu and The Wire are very good at summing up the challenges of bringing it to India. Sanctuary magazine looks specifically at the problem of grasslands for cheetahs. The Conversation explains the potential for interspecies conflict between cheetahs and lions. The Bastion has a very good deep dive on what the arrival of cheetahs will do to locals in Kuno. This Down To Earth video looks at past attempts to revive our cheetah population.