Why were cheetahs imported from Africa into India in the early 1900s?

In the early 1900s, cheetahs were imported from Africa into India to compensate for the depletion of wild Asiatic cheetah populations.1

Historically, cheetahs were kept by royalty and used as trained companions for game hunting. Because there was essentially no captive breeding, these animals were continuously captured from the wild to maintain the stables of historical figures, such as the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great. This ongoing demand created a drain on local populations, necessitating the importation of cheetahs from Africa to sustain their use in India and Iran.12