Cheetah reintroduction in India

Cheetah reintroduction in India is a programme initiated by Government of India to re-introduce cheetahs to India after they became locally extinct more than 70 years ago. The Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) whose range once included most of India were driven to extinction locally with the last known sightings recorded in early 1950s.

After the cheetahs became locally extinct, various studies were done and multiple plans have been made to re-introduce cheetahs back into the wild. This included initial plans to re-introduce the asiatic cheetah from Iran in the 1970s which were shelved due to political instability in Iran and the dwindling population of the species in the existent range. Since the late 1980s, further plans were made to introduce members of related sub-species Southeast African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus). In 2022, as a part of Project Cheetah, cheetahs flown in from Namibia and South Africa were introduced to Kuno National Park in India.