Category:

Research

A good season for leopard photography!

by مدیر سایت December 14, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

The Persian Leopard Project in Northeastern Iran is running an intensive camera-trapping survey in several key leopard reserves. To date, more than 250 photographs of Persian leopards from 40 camera-trap locations have been obtained from Salouk and Sarigol National Parks. Researchers from the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) have started to analyze the data, and preliminary results suggest viable leopard populations in these two reserves. The team expects to expand this survey to new areas in spring 2016.

Led by Mohammad Farhadinia from ICS and University of Oxford’s WildCRU, and in collaboration with Iran Department of Environment (DoE), North Khorasan Provincial Office of Iran DoE, Panthera, and University of Tehran; this project seeks to answer a variety of conservation-oriented questions about the persistence of the Endangered Persian leopard in fragmented mountainous habitats in northeastern Iran. Gathering reliable information about the population status of leopards are one the key components for effective conservation planning for this endangered leopard subspecies across its range.

leopard photography

December 14, 2015 0 comments

First female Persian leopard collared in northeastern Iran

by مدیر سایت December 8, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

On December 6, 2015, the first female Persian leopard was successfully captured during the Persian Leopard Project in Northeastern Iran. The project team carefully immobilized, examined and measured this 3-year-old female of about 40 kg. The team called her “Iran”, fitted her with a GPS satellite collar, and then released her.
Led by Mohammad Farhadinia from the Iranian Cheetah Society and WildCRU, and in collaboration with Iran Department of Environment, Panthera, and University of Tehran; this project seeks to answer a variety of conservation-oriented questions about the persistence of Endangered Persian leopards in fragmented mountainous habitats in a number of protected areas in northeastern Iran. Another four male Persian leopards have been previously fitted with collars during this study.

December 8, 2015 0 comments

Leopard Program The Persian Leopard Project in Northeastern Iran

Updates for the Persian Leopard Project in Northeastern Iran

by مدیر سایت December 4, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

Led by Mohammad Farhadinia from the Iranian Cheetah Society and WildCRU, and in collaboration with Iran Department of Environment, Panthera, and University of Tehran; this project seeks to answer a variety of conservation-oriented questions about the persistence of Endangered Persian leopards in fragmented mountainous habitats in a number of protected areas in northeastern Iran.

One key aspect of this project is studying the movement ecology of Persian leopards on this rugged landscape. Five Persian leopards have been so far successfully fitted with cutting-edge GPS satellite collars, which are providing invaluable data about movement patterns, kill rates and social structure of Persian leopards. This information is also very important to increase our current knowledge about human-leopard interactions and leopard-livestock conflict.

Among the four male and one female leopards captured during this study, two of the male leopards have been monitored for one year and their collars have been successfully recovered.

The project team is now busy with an intensive camera-trapping survey and prey assessment in multiple reserves, in order to better understand the population dynamics of the enigmatic Persian leopards and patterns of predator-prey relationships. The project is expected to continue until 2017.

One of the collars recovered near the leopard kill, a Persian ibex!

Kave:

Another kill belonging to one the young male leopards fitted with GPS satellite collars during this study. Wild sheep appears as one the Persian leopard’s preferred prey on this landscape.

Map showing movement patterns of one of the male leopards which is monitoring during this project. This old male has trespassed the border between Iran and Turkmenistan for several times during the past two months.

A camera-trap photograph of an unidentified male leopard within the territory of the collared male leopards.

December 4, 2015 0 comments

Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program Asiatic Cheetah Population Monitoring Program

A new cheetah family photographed in Miandasht!

by مدیر سایت November 26, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

The Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS)’s camera traps have detected a new family of two cheetahs in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, North Khorasan province. We knew this female cheetah since 2012, when she was photographed with her three cubs in the reserve. New photographs from Miandasht show her with a male cub.

The female cheetah with her cub photographed in November 2015.

Miandasht has been intensively monitored by ICS since 2011, but this female cheetah has been absent in our photos since 2013.

The same female cheetah photographed with three cubs in 2012.

This finding shows that presently at least two female cheetahs with their cubs live in Miandasht, who are indeed mother and sister.

The family of four cheetahs re-photographed in 2013.

Therefore, at least 7 Critically Endangered Asiatic cheetahs, including 2 adult females, 4 dependant cubs, and one adult male, are present in Miandasht.

Another cheetah family photographed in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge in September 2015. The cheetah mother in this photo is one of the cubs photographed in 2011-12.

This information suggests that Miandasht is one of the best cheetah reserves in Iran, with one of the largest population of cheetahs confirmed to persist in a reserve in the country.

ICS’ monitoring program in Miandasht is running in collaboration with North Khorasan Provincial Office of Iran Department of Environment and Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project, and this phase of camera-trap surveys will be continued until end of January 2016.

November 26, 2015 0 comments

Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program Research

Another cheetah re-photographed after more than 4 years!

by مدیر سایت November 16, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

We previously wrote about the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS)’s recent camera trapping survey in Naybandan Wildlife Refuge, which revealed another long-distance movement by a male Iranian cheetah, named as “Pouyan”
In the Naybandan survey, our camera traps photographed three different male cheetahs in multiple occasions across the reserve. Besides “Pouyan”, one of the males was identified as “Arash”, the cheetah whose photograph won the BBC Wildlife Magazine’s prize in 2014 . ICS researchers could eventually identify the third cheetah, known for us as “Navid”!
Navid was photographed for the first time by a team from National Geographic in 2011. But he missed in the following surveys in Naybandan Wildlife Refuge. Re-photographing Navid after 4 years is indeed very good news, showing our poor knowledge about the survival and population dynamics of Asiatic cheetahs in Iran. Our survey efforts in Naybandan are running in collaboration with South Khorasan Provincial Office of Iran Department of Environment, Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project, and Part Wildlife Discovery Institute.

A camera-trap photograph of “Arash” from Naybandan Wildlife Refuge, fall 2015

Camera-trap photograph of “Pouyan” in Naybandan, fall 2015

“Navid” was photographed in Naybandan by a team from National Geographic in 2011

The new photo from “Navid” by ICS camera traps in Naybandan Wildlife Refuge, fall 2015

Comparison of Navid’s coat pattern from pictures obtained in 2011 and 2015

A camera-trap photograph of “Arash” from Naybandan Wildlife Refuge, 2014.

November 16, 2015 0 comments

Documentries Leopard Program

ICS’ Persian Leopard Project aired on Dutch and Belgium TV channels

by مدیر سایت November 7, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

During the Persian Leopard Project in Northeastern Iran, a new leopard was successfully radio-collared very recently . This young male, the 4th leopard that has been equipped with GPS-satellite collars in this project, was anestethsized by Jacques Kaandorp, a well-known vet from Beekse Bergen Safari Park, the Netherlands. During his 2-week stay in Iran, Jacques was accompanied by a small group of Dutch documentary makers who filmed the project. Two short episodes from this documentary was aired on Dutch and Belgium TV channels recently. You can watch the first episode in Dutch here .
Led by Mohammad Farhadinia, the Persian Leopard Project in Northeastern Iran is a collaborative conservation-based research project between University of Oxford’s WildCRU, ICS, Iran Department of the Environment, and Panthera.

ICS activities on Dutch and Belgium TV channels

November 7, 2015 0 comments

Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Program Asiatic Cheetah Population Monitoring Program

The cheetah family photographed again in Miandasht!

by مدیر سایت October 28, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

The Iranian Cheetah Society’s camera-traps have successfully photographed this family of a female cheetah with three cubs in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge during October 2015. This cheetah family was first photographed in August 2015, and we are thrilled to find out that they are still doing well.
The female cheetah has been photographed in different occasions since the first time she was identified in 2013 as a cub. Miandasht Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Iran is one of the key cheetah reserves in the country, and holds the majority of cheetah reproduction records since 2011. The Iranian Cheetah Society is monitoring the cheetah population in this reserve since 2004, in collaboration with North Khorasan Provincial Office of Iran Department of the Environment and Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project.

cheetah family in Miandasht

October 28, 2015 0 comments

Wildtalks

Three years with the WildTalk: Iranian marine mammals and spiders featured in the 23rd seminar

by مدیر سایت October 27, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

The Iranian Cheetah Society celebrated the 3rd anniversary of WildTalk Seminars, with two presentations about conservation of marine mammals of Iran and recent discoveries about a family of Iranian spiders, respectively.
In the first presentation, Hamed Moshiri from the Plan 4 the Land Society (P4L) presented some the conservation activities his NGO is involving in southern Iranian waters since 2009. Hamed showed how his team is using photo-identification techniques to identify estimate the population size of several species of dolphins. He also presented some findings from their ongoing study on the social behavior and food preferences of the dolphins. Conservation education campaigns are also one of the key complements of the work that P4L is doing in southern Iran.
Alireza Zamani introduced his work on family Filistatidae (also known as crevice weavers) in Iran in the second presentation. These nocturnal spiders typically build a silken tube in a circular pattern around the entrance of a crack, often among rocks or dead woods. Alireza updated the attendants with the most recent review of this spider family from Iran, in which to date at least 11 species from 4 genera has been discovered in the country.
In collaboration with Entesharat Fanni Publications, the Iranian Cheetah Society runs the WildTalk Seminar every two months and invites Iranian researchers and conservationists from different organizations to present their efforts to save the Iranian fauna and flora.

23rd wildtalk

October 27, 2015 0 comments

Articles Leopard Program Research

Leveraging trans-boundary partnerships for conservation of leopards in the Caucasus

by مدیر سایت October 25, 2015

written by مدیر سایت 1 minutes read

A new study involving the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) researchers shows that conservation of leopard populations in the Caucasus is tied to regional cooperation between range countries.
Published in Biological Conservation , the study reveals that suitable leopard habitats in the Iranian Caucasus are likely to be fragmented into two main patches of collectively over 20,000 km2: (1) the Alborz landscape which hosts the larger leopard nucleus and majority of breeding occurrences, and (2) the boundary landscape along borders with Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Only 30% of these landscapes are officially protected. By modeling the connectivity between these two core patches in north-western Iran, the study show that persistence of the leopard population in the boundary landscape and the broader Lesser Caucasus Mountains is dependent on trans-boundary movements through southern Azerbaijan. Thus, it is a priority that international collaboration secures the leopard’s conservation in the wider landscape spanning the borders of Caucasian countries.
ICS is now launching a large-scale corridor assessment focusing in Gilan and Ardabil provinces to assess the value of protecting the proposed corridors and to delineate priority areas for range-wide leopard conservation. ICS’ findings will also be used to support a proposal that Iran Department of the Environment should grant legal protection to certain areas, and to explore opportunities for a regional cooperation between Iran and the southern Caucasus countries.
The ICS’ Caucasus leopard project in northwestern Iran is supported by Iran Department of the Environment and World Land Trust.

October 25, 2015 0 comments