In order to educate local people around the Persian leopard habitats in Iran, educational manuals have been published by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS). Targeting students at two different educational levels, namely primary and junior high schools, the manuals are designed based on local circumstances of Sarigol National Park where has been one of the main sits of leopard research and educational programs by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) since 2005. The readers will learn various aspects of the Persian leopard through games, puzzles, stories, etc. These manuals are applicable for other habitats of the Persian leopard in Iran and the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) highly welcomes any other Iranian NGO willing to carry out an educational plan in order to increase people’s awareness in at local level. You can download the manuals from the Library section of the wesbite.
During 2008, at least 13 Persian leopards were killed in Iran due to various human-related factors which direct killing accounted for 12 (92%) of mortalities. This high mortality rate of the leopards implies critical status of the significant big cat in the country and alarms a gloomy future for the endangered Persian Leopard. Meanwhile, high mortality rate of leopards in recent years sometimes has been interpreted as an indicator of population increasing and good status by some of the Iranian experts.
According to studies on reproductive ecology of the Persian leopard in Iran conducted by the ICS, the predator rarely raises more than two cubs to the second year- the year of independence from mother- in most cases in Iran and most of accompanying litters are just one cub. Comparing Persian leopards and Asiatic cheetahs, the average of cubs in companion of mother in the Asiatic cheetahs is over two cubs per mother. Accordingly, it seems that the Persian leopard has a lower breeding rate. On the other hand, the recent droughts probably has had a significant role to limit population growth of ungulates as preys for leopards. Therefore, it is not logical to expect having suitable natural circumstances for the leopards to increase their population. With no conservation reinforcement plus human population pressure, any potential hope is going blur.
Since the major incidents of leopard kills have been occurred near the human settlements, however, it implies absence or lack of natural preys for the cat in higher elevations and consequently they approach the human settlements in search for food. So, this is clearly not a sign of increasing of their population. On the other hand, the increasing conflict between local communities and the leopards has led to misunderstanding that the leopards have increased, but the population of Persian leopards in Iran is diminishing rapidly.
The second festival of Asiatic Cheetah Conservation day is going to be held since 27 to 31 August in Darabad Museum of Nature and Wildlife in Tehran. During these events which has been the innovative plan of Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) with corporation of environmental organization and some of the NGOs, some nomadic and educational programs will be held due to introducing the cheetah to public. With a minimum population of 70 to 100, the Asiatic cheetah is known as the Iranian cheetah inside its last stronghold. Considering this day as cheetahs day has the main aim of enlightening public about Iranian cheetah and it also boosts public awareness about such pieces all over the country.
Darabad Museum of Nature and Wildlife is hosting the second festival of Iranian cheetah protection day in Tehran. During the festival some governmental organization and NGOs such as ICS hold different educational programs such as movies, issuing pamphlets and posters, having some speeches for public about cheetah, educational games, holding painting competition, cheetah theater, etc. Finally, a joint statement is read in order to support the cheetah in the country.
Since 2007, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) nominated 31 August as the Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Day which was widely accepted among the relevant Iranian GOs and NGOs. On the same date in 1994, Marita, a few months old cheetah cub along with her two sisters and mother came to a spring adjacent to the city of Bafq to drink some water in a hot noon. Unfortunately, the family was attacked by some local people, the mother run away and just Marita was rescued out of the three young cheetahs. Marita was held in Pardisan Park till 2004 the only captive Asiatic cheetahs in the world.
Based on ICS surveys, Bafq Protected Area has had the highest cheetah mortality rate due to human causes. Therefore, since 2002, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) has been implementing an educational project with support of UNDP/GEF/Small Grants Program and the Iranian Department of the Environment to educate local people inside Bafq Protected Area. At the moment, local activities are being monitoring by local NGOs with supervision of ICS.
Statement of the Asiatic Cheetah Protection Day
31 August 2007 (The First Cheetah Day)
It has been 13 years since the day when a rare young cheetah was rescued from an unavoidable death .public has been scared of the young cheetah and her family. Their fear originated from their unawareness, maybe if they had known that the cheetah was not a threat to them and their livestock, and if they had known cheetahs situation and if they were aware of the preciousness of that creature they wouldn
As one of the least known areas in Iran, Baluchistan wildlife has rarely been studied. The elusive Persian leopard seems to survive inside a several areas near the Pakistan, but no investigation has been yet conducted on status of this endangered animal throughout the Iranian Baluchestan. With an area of more than 700 square kilometers, the Birk Mountain Protected Area is considered as the most important habitat for the leopards in Baluchistan.
As a result of field efforts, ICS researchers have concluded an intense conflict between Baluch nomads inhabiting this area and the leopards, so that they lose at least 10 to 20 domestic goats to the cat every month. Surveying leopard
March 2008- Located in the neighborhood of Ghorkhod Protected Area and Golestan National Park near Turkmenistan border, Behkadeh Reserve is considered as one of the leopard
January 2008- Ecological and population studies on the Iranian cheetah in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge has been undergoing using camera trapping technique. Following assessment of the cheetah main habitat in the area according field researches, a total of 15 camera traps were set up at various spots in the area since end of August till mid of December. Given the limited availability of water resources in desert habitats at the end of summer, we tried to set up most of the cameras at the trails reaching to waterholes. All the cameras were picked up just before immigration of ranchers to the area at the end of December. According to the results of camera trapping survey, it seems that striped hyena possesses a fairly good population in the area and wolves have established a breeding population in Miandasht. Comparing the results of setting cameras in the years 2004 and 2007, it seems that population of hares has notably reduced and considering this animal as one of the main food items of the cheetahs in Miandasht, it may affect the population of cheetahs impressively.
Another interesting point on setting the camera traps is the extension of wild boar’s distribution from north southward. It should be noted that this species did not exist in Miandasht before 2000s, though it occupied the area from the northern reserves and extended its range of distribution from north to the south during the past couple of years. Severs droughts at the end of 1990s are considered as one of the motivating factors for immigration of the boars. Unfortunately, no cheetah was captured during the camera trapping efforts which raised the question on destiny of the area’s cheetah population which was estimated to be around 6 to 10 animals in 2004.
Fortunately, once patrolling in the area, an adult cheetah was sighted from 30 meters by one of the ICS staffs which was quite motivating to go ahead. Moreover, several signs of the creature were found on borderlands which indicate that the animals have changed their distribution from core zone to mountainous habitats. Presently, Miandasht Wildlife Refuge is one of the last habitats of the critically endangered Asiatic cheetahs in Iran and holds the highest rate of cheetah sightings among the species habitats in the country.
November 2007- The first ecological study on the brown bear in Iran has been conducting since 2006 by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) in North Central Alborz Protected Area. Supported by the Iranian Department of the Environment (DOE) and Deutch Zoo Conservation Fund (DZCF), this research project has focused on various ecological aspects of the species as a part of “ICS Big Carnivores Program” in Iran. The study area is mainly composed of Hyrcanian mountain forests in northern Mazandaran province, aiming to provide a baseline for the future studies as well as to develop management plans.
The brown bear is the largest carnivore in Iran which has not yet been studied in the country as it deserves and there is not documented information about it in Iran as well as international organizations. Meanwhile, the growing conflict with local people and lethal control methods against it in most of the species range in the country have faced a serious threat to its survival. Accordingly, this research project was launched to work on the brown bear’s food habits, behavior, habitat selection, conflict with local communities, population status and reproduction. The species hibernation is fully unknown in Iran and no data is available on if the bear do so in various habitats of the country. Therefore, despite of harsh environmental circumstances in winter, bear hibernation was investigated during winter 2006-2007, concluding that the bears spend a minimum of 60 to 70 days inside their winter dens, probably one of the shortest hibernations among the species range throughout the world. Conflict between the animal and the local people in the habitat is relatively high, thus, a part of this research is dedicated to the local people, to probe into their problems and also their threats to the wildlife.
As mentioned on scientific literature, one of the most practical solutions to recognize different individuals of a bear population in a particular area during a short period of time is perhaps to recognize different individuals according to their appearance, color and some special morphological signs. We found a high variability of color patterns among the bears in the study area, from yellowish to quite dark and have been able to count at least 37 to 39 brown bears during a limited time of two months in the area’s core zone.
As well as the brown bear, some studies have been also accomplishing about the other available species in the area, including Persian leopard and Eurasian lynx. The Persian leopard is one of the most charismatic species which we have managed to get some valuable data about it, mainly on predation, habitat selection and conflict with local communities which a short communication has been published on spring 2007 issue of IUCN Cat News (you can download it from Library). Unfortunately, annually at least 15 to 20 domestic cows from 8 villages around the area are killed by the leopards and in return, at least 1 to 2 leopards get lethally eradicated, mainly through lacing carcasses with organochlorine pesticides to poison leopards returning to feed on a kill. Therefore, it seems extremely essential that the Iranian Department of the Environment needs to take serious measures to reduce this conflict.
First issue of Persian Leopard Newsletter is released.
October 2007- The first Iranian ecological study on Gray Wolf has been started since summer 2007 in Ghameshlou Wildlife Refuge, Esfahan province. Led by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) with cooperation of the Department of the Environment (DOE) and Environmental Sciences Research Center of Shanhid Beheshti University, the project is ongoing inside one of the best habitats of the species in the country where a high density of predators and preys occur. The main goal of this research project is to study on wolf’s impact as the area’s main predator on both wild and domestic ungulates, which is one of the main present concerns of the Iranian wildlife managers and experts.
According to investigations conducted since 2000 till 2004 by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) in Esfahan’s Karkas Hunting Prohibited Area and Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, it was concluded that the wolf apparently prefers wild preys, particularly gazelle and wild sheep and is not usually a serious threat to domestic animals. However, the animal is usually sacrificed of human’s fear and is killed due to its historical antecedent and occasional tragedies of livestock slaughter, as well. For instance, in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge where herders considered it as the main threat to their livestock, it was found that during the period of winter grazing season in the area’s pastures, herders lose on average less than one head of animal per a herd to the wolves’ depredation. In order to more research on this hypothesis, preliminary surveys were conducted to find a suitable habitat where possesses high density of wolf and both wild and domestic ungulates… and Ghameshlou WR was selected.
According to the initial studies, goitered gazelle is the most important wolf’s prey in the area following by wild sheep, wild goat, hare, rodents and plant materials forming the species food menu in Ghameshlou. It must be added that wolves do some damages to the livestock, mainly sheep. The main approach of investigating the area’s wolf diet is to collect and analyze scat samples as well as kill monitoring. Estimation of ungulates population is another important step indicating the level of wolves access to wild preys.
With an area of around 80000 hectares, Ghameshlou WR is one of the most outstanding wildlife habitats in the country and beside Mouteh WR which is located in neighborhood, possesses the highest density of ungulates such as goitered gazelle and wild sheep. It is thought that both area’s wolf populations are in mutual interaction and ICS intends to conduct some researches in Mouteh WR to achieve to a comprehensive conclusion. It must be noticed that Mouteh had been among the Asiatic cheetah’s strongholds in the country and there has been some recent reports of cheetah’s presence verified by us in this region.
