I have been hearing loud talk of African cheetahs reaching India even before and after my first trip to Africa earlier this month. In his own mind too, he had a desire to see the animal, in which in one of the few old pictures recorded in his mind, his eyes are blindfolded and a rope is tied to his body, in the other, he is being taken on a bullock cart. Then he looked like a leopard, but his mouth was small and the black lines from his eyes to his nose were separating his identity from the leopard.
Generally, people are not able to differentiate between leopards and cheetahs. Especially when the cheetah has disappeared from the forests. By the way, even in the time of the British, he had the name 'Shikari Leopard', because he used to go hunting black deer and rabbits,s, etc. The popularity of hunting under the Mughals and the British is clearly visible in the miniature paintings and photographs of that period.
There is the same difference between the cheetahs of Africa and Asia as the lions of the two continents. The only difference is that the number of lions has increased in both regions, but the Asiatic cheetah has survived only a little in Iran. The interesting thing is that in India, cheetahs were imported from Africa in the past, whose number is believed to be up to two hundred, not eight-ten. Due to the decreasing number of cheetahs in Asia, the kings here bought cheetahs from Africa.
Had brought. Akbar and Jahangir have a large number of pet cheetahs in the Mughal period. The first troop of cheetahs from Africa is coming from the South African country of Namibia, where there are large numbers of cheetahs that migrate from protected forest areas to farms, such as leopards here. The cheetahs of Kenya and Namibia belong to a class.
My first question on reaching Kenya was related to a cheetah sighting which was not seen in both the parks before. I had my first sighting of the African cheetah on my arrival from Jaipur, about a week before the day the cheetahs were scheduled to land at the Jaipur airport in India. It was a coincidence because till then I did not know that the cheetah team would land in Jaipur.
It will also be considered a coincidence that an anecdote of cheetah hunting at the hands of Mughal Emperor Akbar is related to the area around Jaipur airport. According to that story, when Akbar's cheetah Chittaranjan jumped and crossed the wide gorge to hunt deer in the forest there, Akbar awarded him with a gold necklace studded with jewels, that is, a neck belt, in his honor. A drummer should walk in front of him and play the drums.
also ordered. Akbar had even built a cheetakhana in Fatehpur Sikri, which was later discovered in research, and is now facing dire straits. It is possible that now the days of that Cheetakhana will also go back. Well now let's talk about the first sighting in the forest of Chitchor Cheetah. A radio message came on our range rover going through a bumpy road in the midst of heavy rain our Masai driver Richard drove fast and we reached where there were already some vehicles.
The cheetah was trying to eat its prey, but when it raised its head and looked at me and I took the picture, that moment became unforgettable. We stood there for a long time until he himself lay down among the savanna grass for rest. I again saw cheetah cubs with their mother which are not usually seen. After that, I discussed the settlement of African cheetahs in India with the safari driver who was oblivious to that news.
Not because Namibia was thousands of miles away from Kenya. African people have full information about the movement of animals and birds on their continent. The reason for not being oblivious was his election results. It was almost time for the Cheetah to come to us and the new president to take over, and the newspapers were full of controversial results and court decisions and people's reactions.
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