<h5>What are some fun facts about the cheetah?</h5>  <p>Some fun facts about the cheetah you might have read about in school are that it is the fastest animal on land. They can’t roar, they only purr (like a cat). They find it difficult to climb trees. But here are some things you might not know about cheetahs.</p>
<p>Though there are no cheetahs left in India today, they were native to our country once. In fact, the name cheetah comes from the Sanskrit word ‘chitraka’, which means spotted. Cheetahs were a favourite among Indian kings and queens who used their help for hunting. That means, that each time they went out hunting, their pet cheetahs would help them chase down their prey. Emperor Akbar had 1000 pet cheetahs!5</p>
<p>Cheetahs roamed the Indian subcontinent for hundreds of years. Now there are 7100 cheetahs left in the entire world, most of which live in Africa. In Asia, there are only 40 (yes, 40!) cheetahs left who live in Iran. There are zero cheetahs in India.
</p> <h5>Why did the cheetah go extinct in India?</h5> <figure>
        <img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/how-is-india-bringing-the-cheetah-back-after-extinction-1%2Fhow-is-india-bringing-the-cheetah-back-after-extinction-1-section2.jpg?alt=media&token=1fe6d844-d9cc-499b-b5a6-75f26bf8fd15" alt="Why did the cheetah go extinct in India?" >
        <figcaption>Cheetah hunting springbuck in Etosha National Park, Namibia. </figcaption>
      </figure> <p>Indians were proud of India being home to a powerful and sleek animal like the cheetah. They had a habit of capturing cheetah cubs to keep them as pets. This reduced their numbers in the wild. When the British invaded India, they too used to hunt a lot. They hunted not just the cheetah but also all its prey - blackbuck, gazelle, and hare. </p>
<p>When the cheetah had no food to eat, it began entering villagers' homes and eating their goats and chickens. The last remaining cheetahs were killed to avoid human-wildlife conflict, and they were officially declared extinct in 1952.</p>
<p>The cheetah is the only large carnivore to have gone extinct since India got independence. The Indian Government has been trying since the 1950s to bring the cheetah back. But those plans always ended up failing.
</p> <h5>Why did the past attempts to bring the cheetah back fail?</h5>  <p>A bunch of unlucky things happened in the world each time the Government tried to bring the cheetah back to India. In the 1970s, India tried to exchange Asiatic lions for Asiatic cheetahs (the same kind of cheetah that used to live in India) with Iran. But then a challenging period in Indian history called The Emergency happened and the plan failed.</p>
<p>After the Emergency in India was over, India tried to resume the lion-cheetah exchange, but the Shah (king) of Iran was removed from power by his people. So the plan was abandoned again!</p>
<p>In 2009, India approached Iran again to give us a few of their Cheetahs, but Iran refused. They had just 40 cheetahs left and won’t give us even 1. 
</p> <h5>How is the government planning to bring back the cheetah now?</h5> <figure>
        <img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/how-is-india-bringing-the-cheetah-back-after-extinction-1%2Fhow-is-india-bringing-the-cheetah-back-after-extinction-1-section1.jpeg?alt=media&token=828ecd39-5edf-4dc0-a3f5-1bb070e5f332" alt="How is the government planning to bring back the cheetah now?" >
        <figcaption>Two cheetahs cuddling with each other. Photo by Hari Nandakumar / Unsplash.; https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1576222901803-c062b57925b4?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=MnwxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8&auto=format&fit=crop&w=851&q=80</figcaption>
      </figure> <p>Initially, India will be getting eight cheetahs from Namibia, a small country in Africa. Both countries have signed a deal, which includes India getting cheetahs from Namibia, along with cooperation between both countries on other matters. 
The cheetahs will be first introduced in the Kuno National Park located in Madhya Pradesh because of its cheetah-friendly environment. The Indian government is trying to bring the cheetahs before August 15, 2022. If all goes well, India will have cheetahs again - 70 years after they went extinct.
</p>

Efforts to bring the cheetah back from extinction in India are finally successful! Let’s see how this was made possible. 

How India Is Bringing The Cheetah Back From Extinction

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