The Asiatic cheetah once ranged from the Arabian Peninsula and Near East to Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to India.

The population in Turkey was extinct already in the 19th century.
In Iraq, the cheetah was still recorded in the desert west of Basrah in 1926.
The last record was published in 1991, and it was a cheetah that had been killed by a car.
In the Sinai peninsula, a sighting of two cheetahs was reported in 1946.
In the Arabian peninsula, it used to occur in the northern and southeastern fringes and had been reported in both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait before 1974.
Two cheetahs were killed in the northern Saudi region of Ha'il in 1973.
In Yemen, the last known cheetah was sighted in Wadi Mitan in 1963, near the international border with Oman.
In Oman's Dhofar Mountains, a cheetah was shot near Jibjat in 1977.

In Central Asia, uncontrolled hunting of cheetahs and their prey, severe winters and conversion of grassland to areas used for agriculture contributed to the population's decline.
By the early 20th century, the range in Central Asia had decreased significantly.
By the 1930s, cheetahs were confined to the Ustyurt plateau and Mangyshlak Peninsula in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and to the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains and a region in the south of Turkmenistan bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
The last known record in this area between the Tejen and Murghab Rivers dates to 1957, in the Ustyurt plateau to July 1983, and in the Kopet Dag to November 1984.
Officers of the Badhyz State Nature Reserve did not sight a cheetah in this area until 2014; the border fence between Iran and Turkmenistan might impede dispersal.

The cheetah population in Afghanistan decreased to the extent that it has been considered extinct since the 1950s.
Two skins were sighted in markets in the country, one in 1971, and another in 2006, the latter reportedly from Samangan Province.

In India, the cheetah occurred in Rajputana, Punjab, Sind, and south of the Ganges from Bengal to the northern part of the Deccan Plateau.
It was also present in the Kaimur District, Darrah and other desert regions of Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat and Central India.
Akbar the Great was introduced to cheetahs around the mid-16th century and used them for coursing blackbucks, chinkaras and antelopes.
He allegedly possessed 1,000 cheetahs during his reign but this figure is exaggerated since there is neither evidence of housing facilities for so many animals, nor of facilities to provide them with sufficient meat every day.

Trapping of adult cheetahs, who had already learned hunting skills from wild mothers, for assisting in royal hunts is said to be another major cause of the species' rapid decline in India as there is only one record of a litter ever born to captive animals.
By the beginning of the 20th century, wild Asiatic cheetahs were so rare in India, that between 1918 and 1945, Indian princes imported cheetahs from Africa for coursing.
Three of India's last cheetahs were shot by the Maharajah of Surguja in 1948.
A female was sighted in 1951 in Koriya district, northwestern Chhattisgarh.

In the 2015 update of the IUCN Red List, the Asiatic cheetah is considered regionally extinct in Iraq, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The Asiatic cheetah once ranged from the Arabian Peninsula and Near East to Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to India.
The population in Turkey was extinct already in the 19th century. In Iraq, the cheetah was still recorded in the desert west of Basrah in 1926. The last record was published in 1991, and it was a cheetah that had been killed by a car. In the Sinai peninsula, a sighting of two cheetahs was reported in 1946. In the Arabian peninsula, it used to occur in the northern and southeastern fringes and had been reported in both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait before 1974. Two cheetahs were killed in the northern Saudi region of Ha'il in 1973. In Yemen, the last known cheetah was sighted in Wadi Mitan in 1963, near the international border with Oman. In Oman's Dhofar Mountains, a cheetah was shot near Jibjat in 1977.
In Central Asia, uncontrolled hunting of cheetahs and their prey, severe winters and conversion of grassland to areas used for agriculture contributed to the population's decline. By the early 20th century, the range in Central Asia had decreased significantly. By the 1930s, cheetahs were confined to the Ustyurt plateau and Mangyshlak Peninsula in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and to the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains and a region in the south of Turkmenistan bordering Iran and Afghanistan. The last known record in this area between the Tejen and Murghab Rivers dates to 1957, in the Ustyurt plateau to July 1983, and in the Kopet Dag to November 1984. Officers of the Badhyz State Nature Reserve did not sight a cheetah in this area until 2014; the border fence between Iran and Turkmenistan might impede dispersal.
The cheetah population in Afghanistan decreased to the extent that it has been considered extinct since the 1950s. Two skins were sighted in markets in the country, one in 1971, and another in 2006, the latter reportedly from Samangan Province.
In India, the cheetah occurred in Rajputana, Punjab, Sind, and south of the Ganges from Bengal to the northern part of the Deccan Plateau. It was also present in the Kaimur District, Darrah and other desert regions of Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat and Central India. Akbar the Great was introduced to cheetahs around the mid-16th century and used them for coursing blackbucks, chinkaras and antelopes. He allegedly possessed 1,000 cheetahs during his reign but this figure is exaggerated since there is neither evidence of housing facilities for so many animals, nor of facilities to provide them with sufficient meat every day.
Trapping of adult cheetahs, who had already learned hunting skills from wild mothers, for assisting in royal hunts is said to be another major cause of the species' rapid decline in India as there is only one record of a litter ever born to captive animals. By the beginning of the 20th century, wild Asiatic cheetahs were so rare in India, that between 1918 and 1945, Indian princes imported cheetahs from Africa for coursing. Three of India's last cheetahs were shot by the Maharajah of Surguja in 1948. A female was sighted in 1951 in Koriya district, northwestern Chhattisgarh.
In the 2015 update of the IUCN Red List, the Asiatic cheetah is considered regionally extinct in Iraq, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Asiatic cheetah