Lion and Cheetah in India: A Critique

Abstract

The book propounds a theory that both the lion and the cheetah were exotic aliens on the Indian subcontinent, as they were imported by humans from Africa in the historical past. The book, however, makes assumptions but fails to provide any valid proof for the theory, which palpably panders to the authors' preconceived notions. This critique challenges this theory on the basis of paleontological finds of lion and cheetah remains and cave paintings of the chalcolithic/neolithic period. Subsequent historical records and current genetic studies of Asiatic lions establish that they are nearer to North African lions than to those of East Africa, from where they were purported to have been imported, and that the cheetah of Iran are a distinct subspecies from those of Africa, but closest to the North African cline of cheetah, which also conclusively proves the surmise of import and introduction of these species by humans to be baseless, and confirms that the lion and cheetah did move out of Africa on the Africa-West Asia land bridge and then into India, like so many other mammals.