Cheetahs in Iran

Arizona Docent said:
Pretty short article - it really doesn't say how the captured cheetahs will be used. Will they be moved to another reserve and let free to breed with cheetahs there? Will they try to breed them in captivity? (I am skeptical the latter will work since cheetah breeding usually requires a large captive population).
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The article yes is short, but .... These are at risk cheetah, there already is a pair in captivity and the situation in the wild is so darn critical that CB is the only option left!

BTW: We left it really too late for NWR (rhino) f.i.
 
What if we were just to take a DNA sample from as many cheetahs as possible and keep that on ice while making sure to protect and encourage breeding with what we have left with the help of conservationists from SA and Namibia.
 
@tigris115 I have met Laurie Marker of Cheetah Conservation Fund a few times, most recently at at talk in my city this March. I am pretty sure CCF does have a DNA bank, but I don't know if they hold samples of Asiatic cheetah.
 
tigris115 said:
What if we were just to take a DNA sample from as many cheetahs as possible and keep that on ice while making sure to protect and encourage breeding with what we have left with the help of conservationists from SA and Namibia.
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In my (humble) view (and having a good inside knowledge on and of Iran'ian conservation biology operatives) a most unsound scientific approach to the present day threats that have befallen the Asiatic cheetah ssp.! Basically what you suggest is a let live and die mode (as seen with northern white rhino and vaquita for example) and wait for the "inevitable" functional extinction.

The current prime threats to Asiatic cheetah are:
A) the extremely small gene pool left (and certainly no longer the estimated 50-100 cheetah across the entire land area of the I.R. Iran), B) the unsustainable sex bias within the population (very male dominated, very few if any females left), C) the consequent lack of any breeding and new recruitment ... and D) the genetic bottleneck the subspecies has experienced since the 1950's-1960's) and aside from these population/genetic issues .... E) a highly fragmented distribution of cheetah across a wide landscape in I.R. Iran precluding any significant recovery of the species or even the potential of mates' to meet and breed

F) the lack of an adequate law enforcement, G) understaffed and ill-equipped ranger force, H) habitat destruction of critical cheetah areas and protected reserves and national parks, I) illegal hunting and poaching of predators in general, J) (illegal) hunting of prey species and consequent lack of sufficient prey base and K) the inadequate funding base for the Iran Department of the Environment for both species and protected areas management.

The only positive is that the research base is sound and sufficient knowledge and database now pre-existing in terms of population numbers and biology the genetics, the ecology and the current distribution and range of the species across the country.

All this now implies that the only meaningful way forward is a recovery by assisted population recovery whereby captive-breeding will play a pivotal and central role. Currently, the captive population is 1.1 near Tehran. The current proposal is the capture to outlier individual cheetah that have no real prospect of connecting otherwise for mating, breeding ... et cetera.
 
@Kifaru Bwana
I agree that catching the remaining cheetahs ans sending them on a breeding loan to a facility abroad is the best way (or the only way) to save the Asiatic Cheetahs. Like it was done with Black-footed Ferret, for example.

However, for mentality and bureaucratic reasons it seems unlikely. Among others, if cheetahs just die out in the wild, there is no particular person who can be blamed. At best, there will be breeding attempts in Iran, which has no practical experience in breeding cheetahs.
 
Jurek7 said:
@Kifaru Bwana
I agree that catching the remaining cheetahs ans sending them on a breeding loan to a facility abroad is the best way (or the only way) to save the Asiatic Cheetahs. Like it was done with Black-footed Ferret, for example.

However, for mentality and bureaucratic reasons it seems unlikely. Among others, if cheetahs just die out in the wild, there is no particular person who can be blamed. At best, there will be breeding attempts in Iran, which has no practical experience in breeding cheetahs.
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The Iranian authorities are being advised by Southern African (captive) cheetah breeders on the ground who have tons of experience of just that. There is no need nor sense to export any Asiatic cheetah out of Iran and it would have no point since a captive group is already on site. I
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
The Iranian authorities are being advised by Southern African (captive) cheetah breeders on the ground who have tons of experience of just that. There is no need nor sense to export any Asiatic cheetah out of Iran and it would have no point since a captive group is already on site. I
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This part I'm not sure I agree with, given the biologists in jail for studying the cheetah, and the possibility of war further interfering.
 
@Kifaru Bwana

I wasn't saying to let them die. I just think having the Asiatic cheetah in the Frozen Zoo will give us a backup. Of course I want the wild population to be protected.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Currently, the captive population is 1.1 near Tehran. The current proposal is the capture to outlier individual cheetah that have no real prospect of connecting otherwise for mating, breeding ... et cetera.
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Any details on the pair currently in captivity?- e.g. their approximate ages, background history, how long in captivity, has there been any mating? Perhaps the addition of an extra male or two might promote breeding?
 
I had read something in the media about one year ago saying a group of wildlife researchers studying these cheetahs were arrested as spies. If correct their days are truly numbered. :(
 
Zorro said:
I had read something in the media about one year ago saying a group of wildlife researchers studying these cheetahs were arrested as spies. If correct their days are truly numbered. :(
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Yes I remember this horrific incident. I think it was two or three years ago? One of the prisoners died in prison already from health conditions. I haven't heard anything recently about the others. The accusation is that they were using the trail cameras to spy which is absurd because the cameras only cover the ground immediately in front of them. The issue is that the Iranian project received funding from an American based conservation group (among others) and the chief donor to the group had made some comments in another context criticizing Middle East terrorism (or something like that).
 
Arizona Docent said:
Yes I remember this horrific incident. I think it was two or three years ago? One of the prisoners died in prison already from health conditions. I haven't heard anything recently about the others. The accusation is that they were using the trail cameras to spy which is absurd because the cameras only cover the ground immediately in front of them. The issue is that the Iranian project received funding from an American based conservation group (among others) and the chief donor to the group had made some comments in another context criticizing Middle East terrorism (or something like that).
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Correct and very sad for those people. Sealed the end of the Asian Cheetahs :(
 
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