A German couple has successfully bred cheetahs on a ranch in Spain. Cheetahs have been tamed and kept as pets for centuries, but they don’t breed in captivity. From Cheetahs Flourish on Spanish Plain:
Popular as hunting animals and elegant pets with rulers ranging from Charlemagne to Akbar, the 16th century emperor of Mughal India, cheetahs are the only big cats that can be trusted not to turn on their owners if tamed, according to Heidenreich.‘Taming a cheetah is very easy, they are different to other big cats, never aggressive … In 5,000 years there have been no accidents reported between cheetahs and humans.
‘They never look for a fight because even if they get a very small injury on just one foot, they cannot run again and will die,’ he added.
However despite their great beauty, usefulness as hunters and non-aggressive nature, the spotted sprinters have never been domesticated because of the difficulties of breeding them.
Akbar’s cheetah stable is reported to have contained up to 1,000 animals, but almost all were caught wild, probably between the ages of three and five, and tamed.
‘Why are they not a domesticated animal if people have been living with them since 3,000 years before Christ?’ said Heidenreich. ‘Because it was almost impossible to breed them in captivity.’