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Surveys Revealed a Resident Population of the Iranian Cheetah in Miandasht

Minadasht, April 6, 2004- Recent surveys have revealed a resident population, estimated to be at least 5 in Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, located near one of the Iranian cheetah main sites as Khar Turan Biosphere Reserve.

During a 5 days survey by ICS staffs, Mohammad Farhadinia, Rouzbeh Behrouz and Mohammad Tohidifar in Miandasht, signs of the cheetah were found, including a fresh track belonging to an adolescent at the northern border of the area where was well-known for its Tamarix jungles. Moreover, out of several scats found in the area, one of them was probably supposed to be for the cheetah on the basis of its appearance and diameter. Following further analysis, some slender bones and skull of a rodent and also two horns of a mosquito were separated from the woolly scat.

Most of the survey period witnessed a heavy snow fall which was incredible due to severe drought over the past years. That was an invaluable opportunity for tracking the cheetahs. Despite of hard efforts under the snow fall and cold weather, however, no cheetah track was seen in the snow cover, probably because of presence of less than 30 herds of livestock which occupy the area annually since November to April. The cheetahs seemed that had gone to remote regions, so they could avoid the human accompanying by many herd dogs and rely on small herds of Persian gazelle Gazella subgutturosa which is the only medium-sized herbivore existing in Miandasht with a total population of around 300. Beside too many observations on birds of prey, 45 gazelles were seen during the survey. 5 wolves were also tracked on the snow, too.

Miandasht Wildlife Refuge with an area of approximately 85000 ha is located at the eastern border of Khar Turan Biosphere Reserve where is one of the main cheetah sites in north eastern of Iran. The area is composed of steppe terrains and foothills where out of the 4 main prey species of the Iranian cheetah, only Persian gazelle exists. The area is surrounded by human settlements and herds of livestock occupy most ranges of the area, but due to recent improved conservational measurements by the Iranian DOE, the cheetah have found an opportunity to recover and 3 cheetahs were filmed in Nov 2003.