India used to have “Asiatic cheetahs”, but all discussions so far have been around the “cheetah” part. Some thoughts on the “Asian” part of the debate: Last Asiatic cheetahs still persist in Iran. How many? Nobody knows, but definitely fewer than 40. Any idea of population trend: several indices confirm “decreasing” population trend. Iran tries to supplement in situ actions with captive breeding, but there are 3 problems: 1) funding (US sanctions wiped conservation funding) 2) capacity (no way for int’l engagement) 3) public outrage, notably animal right groups + some academic biologists So, captive breeding is unlikely to be implemented, as it has been stopped by these three factors collectively. Sadly, in situ conditions are not promising too . Therefore, Iran can never help India. Something missing in debates is evolutionary aspect of project. Why? Asiatic cheetahs are generally smaller than Africans, similar to wolves which are smaller in the Middle East than Europe. All cheetahs we have weighted in Iran varied 25-35 kg, below 30 kg. In contrast, cheetahs in southern Africa reach up-to 60 kg, almost twice as heavy as Asiatic cheetahs. In parts of eastern Africa, cheetah are on average 30-40 kg. Why Asiatic cheetahs are smaller than many Africans? A few hypotheses, one relates them to their main prey size. In Asia, small gazelles and are cheetahs’ main prey, while African cheetahs can kill kudus, wildebeests, etc, along with smaller prey. In Iran, we rarely see cheetahs forming coalition of 3 or more, solitary individuals dominate our observations. Well, perhaps not enough food to sustain a larger group and no big prey that needs large groups to take down! I am not recommending that India should or should not restore cheetahs. That is a different question that should be investigated from social, political, economic and ecological aspects. This blog post is just highlighting an evolutionary and morphological concern, which is Iran’s and India’s cheetahs share evolutionary history, making them smaller than many Africans. With no Asian candidate, India can bring cheetah from parts of Africa which are most similar to what used to be in India; small enough to cope with small prey of Asian grasslands.
