World Wildlife Day, which is observed each year on March 3, was celebrated in 2018 on the theme "Big cats: predators under threat".
The international day is a United Nations initiative that coincides with the anniversary of the signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement between governments to regulate international trade in wild species of animals and plants to ensure that their survival does not become threatened by such trade. Big cats are among the most widely recognized and admired animals across the globe. However, today these charismatic predators are facing many and varied threats, which are mostly caused by human activities.
Dwindling Population
Overall, their populations are declining at a disturbing rate due to loss of habitat and prey, conflicts with people, poaching and illegal trade. For example, tiger populations plummeted by 95% over the past 100 years and African lion populations dropped by 40% in just 20 years. But a range of measures are underway to halt the decline.
In an effort to reach as wide an audience as possible, the expanded definition of big cats is being used, which includes not only lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar—the four largest wild cats that can roar—but also cheetah, snow leopard, puma, clouded leopard and related species. Big cat species are found in Africa, Asia, and North, Central and South America, representing a virtually global distribution.
Although Iran is home to major species of big cat, no related event was organized to mark the day.
Iran is the last home of the Asiatic cheetah, of which fewer than 50 individuals are believed to be remaining. The animal is ranked as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of the Nature, which means the animal is on the edge of being totally extinct in the wild.
The Persian Leopard is distributed across nine Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, but Iran is the animal's stronghold in Southwest Asia with between 550 and 850 individuals living inside its borders.
Nevertheless, it is ranked as Endangered by IUCN, only one level above its cousin.
