How did people use cheetahs for hunting in the past?

Historically, cheetahs were trained and kept by royalty and historical figures—such as Genghis Khan, Charlemagne, and Akbar the Great—to assist in game hunting.12

To utilize them for sport, the cats were kept tame and typically hooded to keep them calm while being transported on horseback or in carts. Once the hunters reached the vicinity of their quarry, the cheetahs were dehooded and released to pursue the prey. Despite their extensive use in these hunting practices, particularly during the 14th–16th centuries, there was essentially no captive breeding, meaning these animals were continuously captured from the wild.1