The last surviving male northern white rhino of the world has died. This leaves only two females of the species to preserve the line, most likely through assisted reproduction, though the chances of success are slim. There is a tragic finality to the extinction of a species from the planet, and we cannot escape our own culpability in giving shape to this tragedy. Most mammals including rhinos first appeared on earth at least 3 million years before the first Homininis – the common ancestors of humans and chimpanzees – did. To have driven to extinction species that roamed the earth for millions of years before us speaks clearly about the dangerous manner in which humans as a species are aggressively crowding out everything else out of existence.

India is home to four out of six species of ‘big’ cats in the animal kingdom – lion, tiger, leopard and the snow leopard. A fifth – the Asiatic cheetah became extinct from India in 1952, with the last three remaining individuals having been shot by Ramanuj Pratap Singh, the Maharaja of Surguja state in present day Chhattisgarh.

The Indian royalty were particularly fond of the cheetah as it could be trained to hunt gazelles and deer. Moreover, the incredible speed and the immense feline grace of a cheetah on the hunt fascinated the ancients no end. The cheetah is the fastest mammal on land. Starting from rest, it can hit a top speed of 120 kmph in just 3 seconds. By comparison, a Mercedes A45 AMG takes 4.5 seconds to hit the same speed. It is believed that Mughal emperor Akbar took with him an army of 1,000 cheetahs each time he went hunting. Unlike the lion and the tiger, the cheetah throughout history has been more prized alive than dead.

A Large number of cheetahs were captured from the wild and kept in the hunting grounds of Indian maharajas. The problem, however, is that cheetahs never breed in captivity. Thus each cheetah captured and kept in a maharajah’s palace, however pampered, died without reproducing. The fad particularly picked up after the British conquest of India as native rulers sought to overdo each other in their pompous display of opulence and vanity to impress their colonial masters. The number of cheetahs fell alarmingly in the 18th and the 19th century, finally dropping out of existence altogether in the 20th. The Asiatic cheetah is the only animal in recorded history to become extinct from India due to unnatural causes.

Today, the Asiatic cheetah is on the verge of global extinction. Iran is the only country in the world that still has any Asiatic cheetahs in the wild, and according to latest reports, their numbers are dwindling fast, with only 50 individuals remaining. Such a tiny population can easily be wiped out due to natural causes within a generation.

This is beyond critical. It is almost the point of no return.

The Contested Politics Of Rehabilitation

India has for long been in talks with Iran for reintroduction of the cheetah. However, Iran has insisted that India exchange an Asiatic lion in return, of which India is the last natural refuge. The cheetah is a cultural mascot in Iran, just like the Lion in India. Being the last natural refuge of an exotic and critically endangered species of wild animal is lucrative in its own right, not the least because it becomes a hot selling point with tourists and also brings in much needed conservation funds from international agencies. Thus neither India nor Iran feels willing to give up their status as the exclusive home of the lion and the cheetah respectively.

Since the deadlock with Iran could not be broken, India looked towards Africa where the cheetah is still relatively numerous.

In 2009, there was much cheer among conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts as proposals were announced to bring the African cheetah for the reintroduction programme in India. A number of sites were narrowed down after detailed studies as presenting the most potential for supporting cheetah populations. These included Palpur-Kuno in Madhya Pradesh, Kaimur wildlife sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh as well as the Gajner wildlife sanctuary in Bikaner which used to be the hunting grounds of the erstwhile Bikaner royals and once the home of a significant population of cheetahs.