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Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program

Large Family of Asiatic Cheetah near Turkmenistan Border

by مدیر سایت May 30, 2013

written by مدیر سایت 2 minutes read

“A large family of Asiatic cheetahs has been photo-trapped in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge in north-eastern Iran. During an ongoing intensive monitoring of the cheetahs by means of camera traps in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, the group was photographed, composing of an adult female “mom with three young adolescents. At least two adolescents are male, the third needs more investigation. The animals were recorded on several occasions while coming to water sources to drink.

This female cheetah has been an experienced mom or “super-mom”, successfully raised all her three cubs to the age of one. However, scientists are surprised how this large group survived among herds of livestock who have traditional grazing permissions within the area’s pastures in winters.

The cheetahs face various challenges during their first year of life, decreasing their chance of survival. Intensive studies in Africa have revealed high juvenile mortality among the cheetahs, even up-to 95% before reaching independence from mother (ca. 17 months) in eastern Africa. However, extremely low detectability of the Asiatic cheetahs has not allowed a proper investigation on their reproductive ecology in Iran.

However, successful rising of three juveniles to their second year has been possible due to recent enhanced protection measures in
place by the Norkh Khorasan Department of Environment. Presently, gazelle population has reached to more than 600, twice population size of early 2000s.
In the meantime, neighboring reserves around Miandasht now should expect the cheetahs, as they leave their mother in summer/fall 2013 to find new ranges. With respect to the area’s proximity to Turkmenistan border, even trans-boundary dispersal is plausible.

After ceasing camera trapping during winter 2012-2013 due to presence of livestock, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) and Iranian
Department of Environment, and Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP) are re-establishing the monitoring program by means of equipping all the areas water sources with digital camera trap to catch proper shots of the young cheetahs in order to develop a national photo ID for each individual. These IDs would help scientists to understand if they would be photographed in the same or other areas.

May 30, 2013 0 comments

During 2000s, 75 Asiatic Cheetahs Born

by مدیر سایت May 11, 2013

written by مدیر سایت 2 minutes read

“According to recent investigation, a total of 75 Asiatic cheetah cubs are known to be born since 2000 in different parts of Iran, in 32 different families. In other word, a minimum of 6 to 7 cheetahs are born each year in Iran. Located south of Alborz Mountains, Turan possessed the highest breeding capacity with at least 9 different families, equal to ca. 30%. However, it is obvious that these figures indicate the minimum numbers and actual breeding should be higher, because all families are not detected, sometimes are outside of protected areas where camera traps operate.

Long-term studies in east Africa have revealed that cheetahs suffer high juvenile mortality, 1 out of each 20 cubs reach to 18 months, age of independence from mothers. However, based on limited number of families studied in Iran, it can be concluded that Iranian cheetahs are lucky to have higher cub survival. The Asiatic cheetah occur in multiple reserves in eastern half of Iran, but analysis indicate that they still have high potential of recovering, if proper and vast habitats are well protected, according to studies ongoing by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project and Panthera.

Reproduction is one of the most critical demographic aspects to manage wildlife, particularly for endangered species. Accordingly, after completion of first round of national monitoring of the Asiatic cheetahs in Iran since 2011, the ICS has launched a new monitoring program to explore reproduction of the cheetahs in different areas. Thus, most of Iran’s main cheetah habitats are now equipped with digital camera traps and are regularly checked to find evidence of breeding which are expected to be quite rare. This program has been initiated since early May when is just after peak of cheetah birth in Iran and will continue until end of summer 2013.

May 11, 2013 0 comments

Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program

So Far, Only 20 Cheetahs Photographed in Iran

by مدیر سایت March 31, 2013

written by مدیر سایت 2 minutes read

“Based on recent camera trapping surveys in Iran, only 20 different Asiatic cheetahs have been recognized in the country. Initiated since late 2011, the first comprehensive national population survey has been implementing by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) and Iranian Department of Environment (DoE) in partnership with Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP) and Panthera. Around half of the country’s known cheetah population exist in central province of Yazd with multiple reserves for the species, while rest of the cheetahs roam areas such as Miandasht, Kavir, Turan, Doruneh, etc.

The Asiatic cheetah has attracted intensive attention of national and international scientific communities to answer various aspects of its life, particularly its population. However, so far, no precise and accurate estimation of the species population was available, making assessment of conservation measures difficult, or even impossible. Camera traps have been proposed to be useful for abundance estimation, based on other large cats experiences. However, due to lack of necessary equipment and fund for implementation, drawback in scientific methods and absence of an experienced team of trained field biologists, this technique has rarely been applied to the critically endangered Asiatic cheetahs.

So far, the ICS has covered nine reserves where the cheetahs are known to exist and simultaneously, Persian Wildlife Foundation covered Turan, one of the cheetah reserves. On the basis of analysis of more than 200 images of the cheetahs, 20 different individuals have been identified. However, due to resource constraints, there are still vast landscapes where camera traps had no chance to cover, indicating that a proportion of the country’s cheetah population has remained non-detected.

As approaching to the first round of the Iran’s National Cheetah Monitoring Program, the most significant message is that the Asiatic cheetah population is so tiny and fragile which necessitates immediate actions to safeguard the species and its range. In 2013, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) has targeted its mission to monitor specifically females. Out of only seven female cheetahs detected so far, one was killed by shepherds in Turan whereas only one of the rest was proved to have cubs. In order to evaluate reproductive status of the females, their areas will be intensively surveyed to find evidence of breeding for later conservation actions.

The Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) is grateful to many organizations who contributed to this program. Special thanks go to Iranian Department of Environment (DoE), Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP), Panthera, La Palmyre Zoo, Amersfoort Zoo, Stichting SPOTS, WWF, Conservation des Espèces et des Populations Animales, Parc des Felins, Prince Bernhard Fund for Nature and many individual donors who supported us during this period. Also, we should say a big thank you to many game guards and local experts who all passionately participated in this long effort. Last but not least, the ICS experts and volunteers who spent more than 15 months in the field to run the project and to analyze the data which all are highly appreciated.”

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March 31, 2013 0 comments

Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program

How Many Cheetahs Exist in Naybandan?

by مدیر سایت February 24, 2013

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

“First phase of cheetah population survey in Naybandan Wildlife Refuge was finished. A total of 45 stations inside the reserve’s core zone were monitored for more than three months to find how many cheetahs exist in the area. As a result, more than 20 images of the Asiatic cheetahs have been obtained which need further analysis to find number of individuals. Besides the critically endangered Asiatic cheetahs, striped hyena was another frequent large carnivore which was present in most of the stations. Also, three species of foxes (i.e. Balnford’s fox, common fox and Ruppelli’s fox), golden jackal, wild cat, caracal, porcupine and ungulates were among species on images.

The next phase of Naybandan’s camera trapping program which has been done in close partnership with the area’s game wardens will continue until end of spring 2013, based on monitoring only 10 identified cheetah trails to understand plausible population changes. As one of the largest reserves in Iran, Naybandan Wildlfie Refuge covers more than 14,000 km2 of arid areas of eastern country which more than 15 different cheetahs have been known to roam the area during past decade. Jangal, known as the oldest Asiatic cheetah ever identified, was an adult male who lived in the area at least 12 to 14 years. The present project has been implementing by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) and Yazd Department of Environment (DoE) in partnership with Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP) and Panthera and Persian Wildlife Foundation (PWF) which each provided several camera traps for the
project.”

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Asiatic cheetah walking in the rain

February 24, 2013 0 comments

Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program Research

Finding Cheetahs in Southeastern Iran

by مدیر سایت December 13, 2012

written by مدیر سایت 2 minutes read

“Southeastern Iran has been always supposed to hold the Asiatic cheetahs; however, no proper survey has ever been conducted in this part of the country to assess the species status.

Accordingly, as part of the cheetah monitoring program initiated since late 2011 in Iran to evaluate the Asiatic cheetahs, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) has launched a new survey in Darband Ravar Wildlife Refuge, Kerman province in partnership with Kerman Department of Environment by means of camera traps shared by Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project and Panthera. The area which is the southeastern-most reserve where the cheetahs have been confirmed in the country has been recently enhanced to Wildlife Refuge due to cheetah reports. It was first notified as a cheetah site in 2008 when an adult male was killed in road incident, then a few months later, a coalition of two males were found to be poisoned some 70 kilometers far from the road incident location, indicating high percentage of Ravar to be patrolled by the cheetahs.
Accordingly, Kerman DoE invested more on the area to protect it which is the closest reserve to Pakistan where once hosted the Asiatic cheetahs. Moreover, community-based programs have been also implemented in Ravar, including conservation education program by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS).

Since early fall 2012, the ICS’ experts are surveying the area while training game wardens for monitoring
skills. However, unlike other cheetah habitats in the country, it is not an easy area to do field surveys, because it is near the border and has a high chance of encountering drug smuggling caravans. So, 8 camera traps have been deployed so far and gradual increase in number and area of coverage is planned. We are hopeful that we could find reliable evidence of the species as well as Persian leopard before the coming spring.

December 13, 2012 0 comments

Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program Research

Felids fighting for survival

by مدیر سایت December 3, 2012

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

Latest issue of Current Biology has published a feature on big cats conservation, namely as “Felids fighting for survival”, authored by Michael Gross who is a science writer based at Oxford. Cat-like carnivores conquered the globe and became top predators on five continents. Today, however, most of the 37 surviving species are threatened, including the iconic species of large, roaring cats.

The article covers a variety of the most endangered cats in the world, including tigers, jaguars, Amur and Arabian leopards and Asiatic cheetahs which the latter is now considered to be the second rarest cat in the world.

“The government has spent years of working to save the creature as the symbol of wildlife in the country,” ICS’ Mohammad Farhadinia explains. “Presently, the Asiatic cheetahs have been reported from more than 15 different areas, all have been upgraded as a protected area. However, their numbers are so low that no more than 70 individuals can be expected for the entire country, meaning for the entire Asian continent, making it the second most critically endangered cat in the world, just after the Amur leopard. “

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