News 38>>

A Refuge for Persian leopards in Northeastern Iran

March 2008- Located in the neighborhood of Ghorkhod Protected Area and Golestan National Park near Turkmenistan border, Behkadeh Reserve is considered as one of the leopard’s habitats in the northeastern Iran. This area is also one of the least known habitats of leopards in the country which has not been properly studied yet. According to the surveys conducted in this area since summer 2007, most of the leopards tracks seem to be not large as Persian leopards' tracks found in adjacent habitats, such as Sarigol NP and Golestan NP. Moreover, the animals have rarely been seen in companion of cubs.

Golestan National Park is home to a high population of leopards (ca. 50) and the neighboring Behkadeh is probably host to younger animals dispersing from main Golestan NP in search for territory and mate. When we came to this conclusion, it shows that the neighboring areas around the national parks and protected areas have a main conservational role to ensure the survival of the main population and it is highly critical to define buffer zones for main populations of wildlife, particularly large carnivores.

According to the Iranian Department of the Environment 2007 census, Behkadeh Reserve and its neighbor Gharkhod Protected Area totally hold more than 500 Urial wild sheeps and around 150 Persian gazelles. Based on kill and fecal analysis, wild sheep, wild boar and livestock are the main prey items of Persian leopards in the area.

Meanwhile, Behkadeh Reserve has been supposed to be a Iranian cheetahs’ habitat for years, but less efforts has been made to approve existence of this species in the area. The most reliable cheetah record in Behkadeh refers back to the winter 2002 when three adult cheetahs were observed in deep snow trying to capture wild sheep. Also, a cheetah was observed by a local hunter from a 10 meters distance in recent December. The Iranian Cheetah Society in association with the Iranian Department of the Environment has been investigating the status of the cheetah in Behkadeh Reserve since summer 2007. Initially, potential range of this species was determined after collecting past observations and verifying their reliability, then camera traps have been set for the cheetah and other species. Concurrently, some studies on hare’ status as a potential kill for the cheetahs are accomplishing in this area, as well.

Persian gazelles (left figure) and Urial wild sheep (right figure) are the main kills for cheetahs and leopards in Behkadeh Reserve.