In 2015, our team launched a campaign to provide water for Asiatic cheetahs and their natural prey in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge in North Khorasan Province. Because of excessive livestock grazing and a prolonged drought, local rangers used to spend a significant portion of their working hours supplying water for artificial water sites (‘wildlife drinkers’) inside Miandasht, which, in turn, negatively affected their anti-poaching patrolling of the reserve. Through the “Water for Cheetahs” campaign, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) has been able to raise funding to enroll a local herder to assist Miandasht rangers in the water provision for wildlife.
On July 23rd, 2018, the local wildlife authority reported that this local assistant has spotted two adult Asiatic cheetahs near one of the artificial wildlife drinkers. Miandasht is believed to support one of the last two viable cheetah sub-populations in Iran. Thanks to private donors and our partner organization World Land Trust, we have been able to continue the “Water for Cheetahs” campaign in 2018. Learn about how you can help us to continue this work in here.