The cheetah cub lost its life after it was hit by a car on the perilous road connecting the city of Sabzevar in Khorasan Razavi Province to the city of Miami in Semnan Province.
Footage captured by an environmentalist and released by Iranian media showed the mother cheetah, named Helia, and her other cub searching for the lost child.
Cheetahs, the world’s fastest land animals, 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.