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<\/a>In a 2019 statement, Panthera said Kaplan\u2019s comments were made \u201cas a private citizen, not in his official capacity as Chairman of the Board of Panthera.\u201d That page is no longer on the website and returns an error: \u201cThis page has vanished \u2026 Make sure that wild cats don\u2019t do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prominent conservationists from around the globe later condemned the politicization of their Iranian colleagues\u2019 work.<\/p>\n
Despite their release from prison, it\u2019s not clear if the PWHF staff will be allowed to return to environmental work in Iran right away. When sentenced, it was noted that they would be banned for a period of two years. Both Taher Ghadirian and Houman Jowkar are members of the Cat Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, while Ghadirian also serves on the IUCN\u2019s Bear Specialist Group.<\/p>\n
Where do Asiatic cheetahs go from here?<\/h2>\n
The case had a major chilling effect on conservation activities and scientific collaboration in Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cInternational cooperation is an essential element of wildlife conservation, from joint research efforts, to the protection of transboundary species, and learning what types of conservation approaches work, and which don\u2019t,\u201d David Boyd, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and the environment told, Mongabay over email. \u201cHuman-rights based conservation is our best bet, while fortress conservation is a recipe for failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
International engagement is crucial for cheetah conservation, with events like the first global cheetah summit held this year in Ethiopia providing an important opportunity to share data and exchange perspectives, said Atie Taktehrani, a conservation research and monitoring manager for the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS).<\/p>\n
Such events, she said, \u201cprovide a window to the world\u2019s conservation efforts, enabling a broader approach to conservation within Iran.\u201d Iran\u2019s government didn\u2019t send a representative to the summit, despite receiving an invitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn additional advantage of international engagement is the acquisition of financial resources for cheetah conservation in Iran, a support that was once regular but has ceased for years,\u201d Taktehrani added. \u201cHowever, given the present political situation in Iran, hopes for improved international relations are dim.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making matters worse, sanctions imposed on Iran can have unintended second-order effects, posing a significant obstacle to cheetah conservation efforts. Sanctions can make it impossible for organizations to establish international accounts, making many outside institutions unwilling or unable to engage with funding proposals from Iran.<\/p>\n
Procuring equipment is another hurdle, with difficulties in shipping and import restrictions on certain technologies.<\/p>\n
Taktehrani said this leads to a \u201creliance on lower-quality goods.\u201d Sanctions also mean the Department of Environment has not been able to upgrade or properly maintain patrol cars used by rangers in cheetah-populated areas.<\/p>\n The Asiatic cheetah received legal protection in the 1960s in Iran. The establishment of protected areas helped facilitate a revival of prey populations, including gazelles. However, the turmoil that followed the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq war, have been referred to as lost years. Lax law enforcement saw cheetah numbers decline due to human-animal conflict, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and declining prey numbers.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no consensus about the number of cheetahs in Iran today. In January 2022, Hassan Akbari, the deputy minister for natural environment and biodiversity at the Iranian Department of Environment, told state media that the Asiatic cheetah population had plummeted to just 12 from an estimated 100 in 2010.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have very limited time to rescue the cheetah from the brink of extinction, and it does not seem that we have more than four to five years to preserve [this] valuable species,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Taktehrani said the number surviving could be fewer than 30, making it among the most endangered mammals on the planet. More than half of wild cheetah deaths in Iran are attributed to road accidents.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the director of Khar Turan National Park said there were an average of eight cheetah deaths per year on the Meyami\u2013Sabzevar road that passes through the protected area in Semnan province. Last year, officials said short-term measures were being taken to slow and reduce traffic after a female cheetah, pregnant with three cubs, was killed by a vehicle. So far in 2024, Iran says there have been zero cheetah deaths on the roads.<\/p>\n