Experts say it will be relatively easier to get cheetahs from Africa, where there are many of them. There had been an earlier proposal to import them from Iran due to the shorter distance, but there are not many cheetahs left in the wild in Iran.

In the past, India's last cheetah in the wild was said to have been shot in the Reva area of Madhya Pradesh in the 1940s.

The cheetah, the smallest of the big cats, can run faster than any other animal on land, more than 100 km per hour.

Laurie Marker founded the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in 1990. She began her research in Namibia in 1977 and is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on cheetahs.

Stephen O'Brien has done pioneering studies on genetic science and authored the book 'Tears of the Cheetah: And Other Tales from the Genetic Frontlines'.

The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), an NGO, is helping the government in the cheetah re-introduction project.