@zeuszendafriends: Imagine taking so many cheetahs from the wild that an entire country eventually lost them. The paintings used in this reel are nearly 500 years old, and hidden within them is the story of how India lost its cheetahs. Cheetahs once roamed across India in huge numbers. Humans had been using them for hunting for centuries, but in the 1500s, one emperor took that fascination to another level. His name was Akbar, and over the course of his reign he is believed to have acquired around 9,000 cheetahs, with as many as 1,000 kept at one time. Because cheetahs were so difficult to breed in captivity, more and more were taken from the wild. They were captured alive, trained for royal hunts and often kept blindfolded until the moment they were released to chase their prey. Over the centuries, that pressure was compounded by hunting, habitat loss and declining prey. By 1952, the cheetah had been officially declared extinct in India. But this time around, humans are on their side. Through carefully managed conservation programmes, cheetahs are breeding in India again, and some are now roaming free in the wild. Zeus was born in captivity. He was never taken from the wild. He isn’t part of a breeding programme, but in a world where every cheetah counts, so does he. His life matters, his story matters, and everything we learn from cheetahs in human care helps us understand and protect the species as a whole. Five hundred years ago, humans were taking cheetahs from the wild. Today, we’re trying to put them back. Image sources / credits: Akbar Hunting with Cheetahs, c.1604, attributed to Manohar, Akbarnama, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain. Akbar Captures a Cheetah, c.1600–03, Akbarnama, Chester Beatty, Dublin. Salim and the Captured Cheetah, c.1602, Aqa Reza, Aga Khan Museum. A Family of Cheetahs in a Rocky Landscape, c.1575–80, attributed to Basawan, Mughal India. Modern cheetah imagery: Project Cheetah / National Tiger Conservation Authority, India.

LibranWildlifeReserve🦁🦒🐆

Open In TikTok:

Region: GB

Tuesday 22 September 2026 17:46:16 GMT