section_path: Current candidate species for de-extinction/Indian cheetah
section_name: Indian cheetah
paragraph_text: Indian cheetah
  
  The Indian cheetah was a population of the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) that was endemic to India. The Asiatic cheetah was extirpated from the region due to trapping by Indian royalty to aid in coursing since the 16th century, and later poaching, habitat loss, and loss of prey in the 20th century, leading to being declared extinct by the Indian government in 1952. In 2022 and 2023, African cheetahs have been imported to India to act as an ecological proxy for the locally extinct subspecies. In April 2025, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in collaboration with Zoological Survey of India announced plans to revive and rewild the Indian cheetah through the same methods as Colossal Biosciences' dire wolf project, editing the genome of the African cheetah to reflect that of the Indian cheetah with an African cheetah acting as a surrogate.