George Pigot's cheetahs from India at the Duke of Cumberland's hunting show in Windsor

In 1764 cheetahs were brought to England from India; they miraculously survived the long voyage and became part of the collection of foreign curiosities of George Pigot, the former Governor of Madras, who had returned to the island. On the way to London the predators stopped as guests of the Duke of Cumberland, a lover of wild beasts. Windsor had previously housed a collection of exotic animals, until an escaped tiger killed a local boy and the menagerie was transferred to the Royal Menagerie at the Tower.

Cumberland could not miss his chance and staged a hunting spectacle: the cheetahs were to kill a stag in an enclosure in Windsor Great Park. But one of the cats leapt upon the stag and, vaulting over the fence, ran off into the woods. Even so, two Indian keepers found the cheetah fairly quickly; it had managed to catch a roe deer. It was allowed to enjoy its prey and only then returned to its cage.

Soon the cheetah was presented to the Royal Menagerie, where it lived a long life under the name of Miss Jenny