In May of this year, camera traps were able to record the first cheetah breeding of 2023 in the Touran National Park. This image shows Khorshid (Talkhab) with her four small cubs drinking water at a watering hole. This female cheetah was only recorded once by cameras last winter. She was born in 2016 and has had three successful births so far, all three generations of which have been recorded by cameras. This is the first time in Iran that we have witnessed three births of a female cheetah. Before that, Mana, a female cheetah from Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, had been seen twice with her cubs.
Continuous monitoring in each habitat leads to valuable results such as information on the minimum number of births that have occurred. In the case of Khorshid, we know that she gave birth to three cubs in 2019, two cubs in 2021, and four cubs this year. We also know that one of her cubs from 2019, named Telma, gave birth to four cubs in 2022.
Effective conservation of the habitat by rangers has increased security and a good abundance of prey, as a result of which we can see such images. The vast habitats of cheetahs in Iran have many difficulties and problems that can only be preserved or increased by allocating several times more resources and equipment; otherwise, the few remaining Asiatic cheetahs will be defeated by threats.
See Also:
IUCN NL: Protecting the Asiatic cheetah in Iran
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