Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ASIATIC CHEETAH
The Asiatic cheetah is one of the most endangered cats on earth. The 50 to 100 living on the edges of Iran's Dasht-e
Kavir are all that remain of a population that once ranged from India to the Mediterranean. Cheetahs were prized by
ancient Persian royalty, who trained them to hunt gazelles. It is this long history, and that Iran's population of Asiat-
ic lion and Caspian tiger has been hunted into extinction, that has made the cheetah the poster-cat of the country's
conservation movement.
Since 2000 the Iranian government has worked with the United Nations Development Programme and the Wild-
life Conservation Society to designate land, mainly in Yazd and Semnan provinces, as parks and reserves, increase
punishments for poaching and undertake an extensive tracking program. The aim was to identify exactly where the
cheetah roam and try to link existing reserves to form a safe haven for the few remaining populations. Unfortu-
nately, severe habitat loss during the 1980s and the resultant loss of cheetah prey, traditionally jebeer, goitered
gazelles, wild sheep and goats, has made this harder, as it has forced the cats deeper into mountainous areas in
search of more modest meals - such as hare and even lizards.
On the positive side, education programs have significantly reduced poaching and the creation of protected areas
is expected to help other native species. The project is ongoing. For more information visit the
Iranian Cheetah So-
ciety
(
www.wildlife.ir
)
or iranian.cheetah on facebook.
