Context
- Mysuru Zoo in Karnataka has acquired one male and two female African hunting Cheetah from Ann Van Dyke Cheetah Centre at Johannesburg, South Africa as part of the Animal Exchange Programme.
Back to Basics
- Mysuru zoo is the second zoo in the country to house hunting cheetahs after Hyderabad zoo which has a pair of big cats.
- Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Mysuru was established in 1892 by Mysore King Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar Bahadur.
- The zoo earlier received African hunting cheetahs — widely considered as the fastest terrestrial animal — from Germany in 2011.
- Apart from these three cheetahs, Mysuru Zoo houses five species of big cats. This acquisition is an opportunity for the zoo visitors to see these endangered African Cat Species.
African Cheetah:
- The African cheetah is the cheetah subspecies native to East and Southern Africa.
- The cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of Kalahari, savannahs of Okavango Delta, and grasslands of Transvaal region in South Africa.
- Bigger in size as compared to Asiatic Cheetah.
- IUCN status:
Asiatic Cheetah:
- Smaller and paler than the African cheetah and has cat like appearance.
- India’s last known cheetah died in Chhattisgarh in 1947.
- Later, the cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952.
- IUCN status:Critically Endangered.
- Believed to survive only in Iran.