The fleetest member of the cat family (Felidae) – Cheetah could soon see its return to India. In a debate in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the environment and forests Minister Jairam Ramesh revealed the government’s multimillion-pound plan to bring back the Cheetah, which has been declared extinct in India since the late 1940s.

While answering to a calling attention notice filed by Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said that the Cheetah is the only animal, which has been declared extinct in India in the last 1,000 years, and now the government is planning to import Cheetahs to India from abroad.

According to Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Cheetahs, which fell prey to indiscriminate hunting, will be imported to India for captive breeding, and the cheetah cubs born through captive breeding will be unleashed in the wild.

Cheetah is the fastest land animal, which can with speeds between 112 and 120 km/h (70 and 75 mph), in short bursts covering distances up to 460 m (1,500 ft). It can accelerate its speed from 0 to 110 km/h (68 mph) in three seconds. Currently, Cheetahs are found in Africa or Southwestern Asia. Small population of Asiatic Cheetahs is still surviving in the Khorasan Province of Iran. Some unconfirmed reports say that iota of Asiatic Cheetahs is surviving in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.