Iran spotted 18 Asiatic cheetah cubs in past year: Official

Gholamreza Ebdali, head of the organization’s Department of Wildlife Protection and Management, said among the 18, there were six female and two male cheetahs.

The rest were cubs whose gender is unknown since they have been observed from a distance, he added.

“Compared to previous years, we have had better statistics on cheetahs spotted in the country this year,” he said.

Elaborating on the situation of ‘Touran’ and ‘Azar,’ two female cheetah cubs which were unexpectedly born in the autumn, Ebdali said the two were in good health at the Touran protected reserve.

Efforts by Iranian environmentalists to save the endangered species suffered a blow last month with the death of Pirouz, a cheetah cub born in captivity, due to kidney failure.

Cheetahs, the world’s fastest land animal, once stalked habitats from the eastern reaches of India to the Atlantic coast of Senegal.

They are still found in parts of southern Africa but have practically disappeared from North Africa and Asia.