Bafq Protected Area

      Bordering the city of Bafq, eastern Yazd province is one of the most important cheetah reserves, with an area of 250,000 ha. The area has large numbers of wild sheep, wild goat and Jebeer gazelle. Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor, the largest subspecies occurs in relative high numbers. It is estimated that there are at least 10 cheetahs in the area, and because of the size of the region; the cheetah density is fairly high compared with the other cheetah reserves. Unfortunately, because of high conflict between humans and the cheetah, two tragedies took place during the past years; in 1994 two cubs were killed and the third captured (kept in Pardisan Park in Tehran as the only captive Asiatic cheetah in the world . Also, in June 2003 three two month old cubs were burned by a local herder. Presently, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) is educating local  people to increase their knowledge about the cheetah and other  animals in order to prevent such disasters in the future.