Bengaluru’s BBP recently welcomed four new animal residents, two male and two female African cheetahs, as new additions to its exhibit. But long before this, their close relative, the Asiatic cheetah, roamed free all over India, including parts of Karnataka. “They were found everywhere – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal. In Karnataka, they were found in Ballari, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar and Chikkamagaluru and even near Bandipur National Park during colonial times, before hunting and loss of their grassland habitat to agriculture caused them to go extinct,” says Sanjay Gubbi, wildlife biologist and programme head at Holématthi Nature Foundation, .
Slightly smaller and lighter in colour than their African counterparts, these majestic big cats have been declared extinct in India since 1952, the last three of their ilk losing their lives to a maharaja’s bullet in 1947. “The last recorded instance is of Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of the princely state of Koriya shooting three of them. There have been unconfirmed reports of cheetahs in the wild after that but it’s hard to be sure because people often confuse them with leopards,” shares Gubbi.
Cheetahs weren’t just the prey in royal hunts though but used to assist rulers much like hunting dogs. Medieval Mughal miniature paintings too, often depict cheetahs as pets and show dramatic scenes of their capture. “According to British-era gazettes and books written by Britishers in Karnataka, in 1896 an officer called Clay bought a cheetah from a tribal person for `10 and raised it for three years. Infamously, in 1799 after the Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu Sultan was found to have 16 (living) cheetahs with him – three were sent to King George,” says Gubbi.
In fact, this was happening as recently as the 1940s, according to biodiversity expert Samad Kottur, and close to home too. Although the Maharajas of Mysore never had pet cheetahs, their northern neighbours in Kolhapur did. “The Maharaja of Kolahpur, around 1945, used to travel from Toranagallu (in Ballari) to Koppal by train along with his cheetahs brought in bullock carts. Between Toranagallu and Koppal were beautiful grasslands where even today, there are black bucks. The king would have the cheetahs on charpoys with black bags over their eyes and when a black buck came in sight, they would release the cheetahs which would chase and capture the bucks,” explains biodiversity expert Samad Kottur. Wildlife conservationist Santosh Martin adds, “People of the region still call the cheetah ‘Shivangi bekku’ in Kannada – derived from ‘Shivana angi’ (Shiva’s clothes) because Shiva is believed to have worn a garment similar to a cheetah’s coat.”
That cheetahs were found across India and closely tied with humans is indisputable but whether they were native to the country’s grasslands in the first place or introduced by kings throughout history is disputed. Kottur explains, “There is confusion between two theories, one which states cheetahs migrated from Persia into North India and evolved here. But there has not been enough archeological research done in this area. Another, [put forth by the late ‘Tiger Man of India’ Valmik Thapar] is that they were brought into India by the Mughals as pets and some escaped into the wild and became feral.”
Four cheetahs in BBP were flown in from South Africa last week via Turkey. They travelled for 16 hours in specialised containers, after the original route through the Gulf, planned for February, was disrupted by the War. They are currently under a 30-day quarantine, an essential step in ensuring their wellbeing along with other animals. “We test for diseases that could come from abroad. We look out for rabies, feline parvoviruses, rectal and endoparasites. Transport also causes animals stress so this period allows them to acclimatise,” explains AV Surya Sen, executive director, BBP. Once clear, they will be given a naturalistic environment with flat land. “Even though we cannot give them huge tracts of land, we can provide them enrichment through having them do sprints for their meat,” says Sen.