As 5th year of celebration, Cheetah Day Festival is going to be held since 7 to 9 August in Tehran and several cities across Iran. The festival is organized by 21 governmental and non-governmental organizations in Iran, funded by Tehran Municipality and Iran Khodro which is the largest car manufacturer in the Middle East. After holding for half-decade, the Cheetah Day Festival is the largest wildlife-based gathering in Iran which attracts huge media coverage on benefit of the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah.
The festival has been hosted in various locations in previous years, such as Tehran zoo or Tehran Museum of Natural History. Now, 2011 festival will be held in Golestan Historical Palace with a backbone of more than 200 years, located south of the capital to increase awareness of this part of the more than 12 million people of Tehran.
31 August has been named as Cheetah Day in Iran which dates back to 1994 when a cheetah was rescued from unaware people after losing her mother with two siblings on a waterhole in central Iran. Since then, numerous educational programs have been organized in various parts of Iran so now a majority of Iranians are aware that their country is the last stronghold.
