Commonly considered to be an entirely African species, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) once had a distribution that extended across the Middle East, Central Asia, north into southern Kazakhstan and southeast into India. Today outside of Africa, the cheetah has been extirpated from its entire Asiatic range except for a small and critically endangered population in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Estimated at 200 animals in the 1970’s, the last Asiatic cheetahs are now thought to number 60-100 animals, all occupying the Dasht-e-Kavir region of north-central Iran.
Iran’s cheetahs are now on the verge of extinction. Iran considers the cheetah an important part of its natural and cultural heritage and it has become a symbol of the country’s conservation efforts. With the future of the cheetah so precarious, Iran’s Department of the Environment (DOE) has launched a major initiative, in conjunction with the UNDP-GEF program, Panthera and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), entitled “Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah, Its Natural Habitat, and Associated Biota in the I.R. of Iran” (abbreviated as CACP).
Goals of the project
The goal of the CACP is the recovery of Asiatic cheetah and its prey. The critical mechanisms for reaching this goal are to:
1.Urgently mitigate the immediate threats to cheetahs and their prey,
2.Establish a baseline of population data for all target species,
3.Enhance law enforcement to protect cheetah and their prey,
4.Undertake targeted research into the ecology of cheetahs, associated predators and their prey,
5.Conduct rangeland studies to determine the extent of competition between livestock and the cheetah’s wild ungulate prey,
6.Enact environmental educational activities with and among local communities to improve the popular perception of the cheetah, and
7.Develop a co-management system for cheetah habitat involving local stakeholders.
Key threats to cheetah survival
The key factor affecting cheetah numbers in Iran is the disappearance of prey. Since the Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979, goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) and jebeer gazelle (G. bennetti) have suffered drastic declines in range and numbers from human hunting, and loss of habitat due to overgrazing and drought. Alternative prey for cheetahs may be sub-optimal. Cheetahs prey upon hares (Lepus capensis) but hares may be too small to sustain cheetahs (especially females with cubs) and are scarce in some areas of cheetah range. Urial (Ovis orientalis) and wild goat (Capra aegagrus) appear to form the cheetah’s primary prey today but both species inhabit mainly foothills or mountain slopes, habitats that are difficult for cheetahs to hunt.
Cheetahs are strictly protected by law in Iran but direct persecution by people is also a significant threat. Cheetahs are killed for sport, for profit, or for protection of livestock. In Iran, herders and their livestock are legally permitted access to most protected areas and some agriculture is permitted in protected areas. Herders are invariably accompanied by numerous large dogs and, as mentioned previously, herders sometimes persecute cheetahs so it is likely that cheetahs actually avoid people. Similarly, the presence of livestock, dogs and people also displace wild ungulates. It is unclear whether this disturbance constitutes a significant threat to cheetahs and their prey.
The first research of its kind
n collaboration with the DoE-CACP effort, Panthera and WCS are working together in Iran to undertake the first targeted research on the behavior and ecology of the Asiatic cheetah and associated carnivores using radio-telemetry. Little is known about the Asiatic cheetah, such as their movement patterns, their habitat preferences, feeding ecology or reproductive biology. These data are critical in preparing an effective conservation strategy for the species in Iran. To address this deficiency, we have begun capturing Asiatic cheetahs and other large carnivores to fit them with radio collars. To date, we have captured two cheetahs in Bafgh Protected Area; this is the first time the cheetah in Iran has been fitted with radio-collars. In addition to the cheetahs, we have also collared two Persian leopards and intend to capture other carnivores in an attempt to understand the entire carnivore community in Iran.
