An Asiatic Cheetah has been spotted twice in Yazd Province this year which officials hope to be a female adult of the rare cat in an area where its population is alarmingly small.
In recent years, only three male cheetahs have been sighted in Yazd.
Park rangers have caught sight of an Asiatic cheetah twice in Behabad region of the province since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21).
However, they doubt it might be one of the same three wandering around and sighted once more.
“It is highly likely to be the same and in that case, if we say the population of cheetahs has a disappointing situation, we are not overstating,” ISNA quoted Hassan Akbari, deputy for technical affairs at the provincial Department of Environment, as saying.
To clarify the number of animals, experts are currently analyzing spot patterns on the big cat’s body to see if the pictures belong to a distinct cheetah. Meanwhile, hopes are that it be a female, if proved to be a new one.
Under Multi-Pronged Threat
Despite measures to protect the critically endangered animal, the species is threatened by multiple factors, including the destruction of habitats, road construction, mining, lack of prey and presence of cattle and sheepdog among others.
“The number of the gorgeous big cats in Yazd has decreased to the extent that there is almost no hope of survival if no effective management strategy is implemented,” Akbari said.
Although rearing carnivorous species in a way that they can later survive in the wild is a challenging task, semi-captive breeding seems to be the last hope to save the valuable animal from extinction, the official added.
“We have had correspondence with Tehran and place hopes on such a project.”
The species that once roamed lands from the Arabian Peninsula to India only survives in Iran today, but its population is shrinking in its last home that currently has fewer than 50 of them.
