Iran has released four conservationists who worked to save the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah before being sent to prison for espionage.
New research has revealed the Asiatic cheetah is even closer to extinction than previously feared, with one survey carried out between 2021 and 2023 identifying just 26 individuals.
According to Hamed Abolghasemi, who was involved in research in the cheetah’s northern Iranian stronghold of Touran Biosphere Reserve until 2017, an extensive, three-year camera-trapping study carried out by the Iranian Cheetah Society suggests this extremely rare subspecies of the big cat that is widespread over much of Africa is now all but gone from southern Iran.
“As there has been no sighted reproduction in recent years, the Asiatic cheetah could be assumed as extinct in southern habitats,” he told BBC Wildlife in an email.
Once found from Israel to India and as far north as the Caspian Sea, the Asiatic cheetah is now entirely restricted to Iran, with “depletion of wild prey, especially gazelles, direct killing” and human impacts on habitat the main reasons for its demise, according to the IUCN Red List. Population estimates previously put the population at around 50.
But one piece of good news for the cheetah is the release of eight scientists imprisoned on spying charges by the Iranian authorities in 2018.
The scientists – who also originally included Kavous Seyed-Emami who died in prison – were part of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF). It is believed its links with the big cat group Panthera may have led to them being targeted because of founder and chairman Thomas Kaplan’s support for lobby groups backing a hardline stance on Iran’s nuclear activities.
Others have suggested they were victims of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which became concerned about civilians working in remote areas where there were nuclear facilities.
The last four scientists were released in April, while Morad Tahbaz – who cofounded the PWHF and holds both UK and US citizenship – came out in September 2023. He was eventually let go as part of a prisoner-swap deal between Iran and the US, according to Amnesty International.
Abolghasemi said the Asiatic cheetah has been on the brink of extinction for many years. “What has saved it are the vast habitats where it lives and some crucial conservation actions that have been taken in the past. Despite all the threats and uncertainties, I believe there is still hope.”
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