Various state governments have lined up events to mark Wildlife Week. The Tamil Nadu Forest Department will conduct short film competitions for school-college students on themes like marine wildlife, mammal ecology and water birds, among others; the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam will organise events for wildlife lovers; Delhi is preparing to get its first wildlife rescue centre, and many other ecology-wildlife-based activities and events have been lined up across the country.

Among all the wildlife activities that have already happened this year, what comes to mind is the announcement about cheetahs being reintroduced in the country.

Looking back, India was home to the Asiatic Cheetah until around the early 19th century – the country's last spotted cheetah died in 1947 in Chhattisgarh. A number of factors such as extensive hunting, diminishing habitat and fragmentation led to it being declared extinct in the country in 1952.

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