Kolhapur (Maharashtra): Cheetahs are back in India, but there was a time when 35 cheetahs were kept in Kolhapur only for hunting. But 70 years ago this cheetah species became extinct in India. Cheetahs are now brought back to India from Africa. But do you know that there was a time when Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj kept these cheetahs for hunting, he didn't have one or two but 35 cheetahs.
After knowing that cheetahs can be used for hunting, Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur kept cheetahs for hunting. Cheetahs brought in for hunting were also trained and to monitor the cheetahs, Shahu Maharaj hired two 'Chittewans', which means cheetah keepers. Cheetahs were kept in Cheetah Karkhana or Chittekhana while Chittekhana architecture can still be seen in the bus stand area of Kolhapur standing as a testimony to the past glory of Kolhapur kings. Descendants of the Chittewan, who maintained cheetahs, still live in the Bindu Chowk area of Kolhapur.
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Amjad Chitwal, the fourth descendant of the Chittewan clan in Kolhapur, told ETV Bharat that it was the job of the Chittewans to bathe and take care of the cheetahs. However, the cheetah is now on the verge of extinction due to hunting. In India, Rajput kings, Nawabs of Hyderabad and Rajas of Kolhapur were famous for rearing cheetahs. However, they were not maintained after the death of Shahu Maharaj, said historian Jaisinhrao Pawar, and pointed out that the last cheetah was seen in 1960.
The book 'End of a Trail, The Cheetah of India' presents the history of cheetahs in India. Cheetahs hunting and how to maintain them were shown in pictures in the book. Meawhile. efforts are being made for many years to bring cheetahs to India. Eight cheetahs were brought to Jaipur in Rajasthan from Namibia as part of an inter-continental translocation project. Cheetahs have returned to India after 70 years. The cheetah, the fastest land animal, was declared extinct in India in 1952. The cheetahs have been brought from Namibia under an MoU signed earlier this year.
The reintroduction of cheetahs in India is being done under ‘Project Cheetah’, which, according to the government, is the world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project. As per the directive of the Supreme Court in 2020, the cheetah reintroduction in India is being overseen by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) guided and directed by the committee of experts designated by the Supreme Court.
