Asiatic Cheetah

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Asiatic Cheetah


Asiatic Cheetah

The critically endangered “Asiatic Cheetah”, what is being done for its conservation and the importance of modern technologies like cloning in wildlife conservation today.

Original Article was written & submitted to Wikipedia

By Atul Singh Nischal


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

may still be available on the website of Wikipedia too, the free encyclopedia

at the following webaddress as the original has sice been edited to suite general interest readers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asiatic_Cheetah&oldid=75407443

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Please note anybody can write any article on Wikipedia and anybody can go on it and edite any article, hence my article has been edited since too to serve a general audience, but it may still be available on the Wikipedia website as an earlier version of the Asiatic Cheetah article, you can also find it by reaching the Asiatic Cheetah page on Wikipedia and pressing the "history" button on top of the page, please go to the latest edit by me, username "Atulsnischal" and "click on the date next to the latest entry of my name" if it is still archived it will comeup.

The original version that I wrote and submitted and the one I am posting in this blog is version number:

00:50, 13 September 2006 Atulsnischal; of the Asiatic Cheetah Article/Page on Wikipedia:

The steps needed to reach the original article I submitted on wikipedia if it is still available:

3 - The latest version I wrote mentioned above:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asiatic_Cheetah&oldid=75407443

2 - Reach the "History" page to the Asiatic Cheetah article by clicking the "History" button on the top of the page of the current version online, look for my version above:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asiatic_Cheetah&action=history

1- The Asiatic Cheetah main page originally I created but edited since, current version edited from myne to suite general interest readers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Cheetah

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NOTE:

Please note do not click on underlined words in the article unless they are links that I have provided otherwise you will be needlessly redirected to other Wikipedia encyclopedia pages.

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Asiatic Cheetah, also called Iranian Cheetah or Indian Cheetah
Conservation status: Critical


Scientific classification

Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Mammalia

Order:

Carnivora

Family:

Felidae

Subfamily:

Acinonychinae

Genus:

Acinonyx
Brookes, 1828

Species:

A. jubatus

Subspecies:

A. j. venaticus

Trinomial name

Acinonyx jubatus venaticus


Asiatic Cheetah

The critically endangered “Asiatic Cheetah”, what is being done for its conservation and the importance of modern technologies like cloning in wildlife conservation today.

Original Article was written & submitted to Wikipedia

By Atul Singh Nischal


At the very brink of complete Extinction is the Asiatic Cheetah, also known as the Iranian Cheetah in Iran where the very last 50 to 60 are said to be living today in a vast fragmented desert habitat. Although recently extinct in India it is also known as the Indian Cheetah. India is eager reintroduce the Asiatic Cheetah to her wilds with the help of Iran and has invested in infrastructure to clone the Asiatic Cheetah. Indian scientists at the The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) are working on the Cheetah cloning project.

The Cheetah (from Hindi चीता cītā, derived from Sanskrit word chitraka meaning "Speckled"), this Asiatic Cheetah subspecie (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is also an atypical member of the cat family (Felidae) that hunts by speed rather than by stealth or pack tactics. It is the fastest of all land animals and can reach speeds of up to 70 mph (112 km/h)-San Diego Facts Links-. The cheetah is well known for its amazing acceleration (0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds which is faster than the SLR McLaren, the Lamborghini Murciélago and the F/A-18 Hornet).

Cheetahs are found in the wild primarily in Africa today, but in the past their range extended into northern and southern India. Conservationists using camera traps have recently discovered surviving populations of Asiatic cheetah in Iran and are taking steps to protect them. In much of their former range they were domesticated by aristocrats and used to hunt antelope and Gazelles in much the same way as is still done with members of the greyhound group of dogs. Aside from an estimated 50 to 60 Asiatic Cheetah living in the Iran, the distribution of cheetahs is now limited to Africa. There are 5 subspecies of cheetah in the genus Acinonyx: four in Africa and one in Iran, the Asiatic Cheetah. The endangered and almost extinct Asiatic Cheetah subspecies Acinonyx jubatus venaticus lives in Iran. In 1990, there were reports in the Times of India of an Asiatic Cheetah sighting in eastern India. There is a chance some Asiatic Cheetah remain in India, though it is very doubtful. There have also been reports of these Asiatic Cheetah in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan, though these continue to be unverified. The cheetah prefers to live in an open biotope, such as semi-desert, prairie, and thick brush.

Ancient Egyptians often kept Asiatic Cheetah as pets. They were also tamed and trained for hunting. Cheetahs would be taken to hunting fields in low-sided bullock carts or by horseback, hooded and blind folded, and kept on leashes while dogs flushed out their prey. When the prey was near enough, the cheetahs would be released and their blind-folds removed. This tradition of hunting with the Asiatic Cheetah was passed on to the ancient Persians and carried to India. This practice continued into the twentieth century by Indian princes who specially enjoyed hunting the local Indian Gazelles the Blackbuck and Chinkara with their trained Asiatic Cheetah. Cheetahs continued to be associated with royalty and elegance, their use as pets spreading just as their hunting skills were. Other such princes and kings kept them as pets, including Gengis Khan and Charlemagne, who boasted of having kept cheetahs within their palace grounds. As recently as the 1930s the Emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie, was often photographed leading a cheetah by a leash.

Contents

Classification: Acinonyx jubatus venaticus

"Acinonyx jubatus venaticus". The genus name, Acinonyx, means "no-move-claw" in Greek, while the species name, jubatus, means "maned" in Latin, a reference to the mane found in cheetah cubs. Even when retracted, the claws remain visible and are used for grip during the cheetah's acceleration and maneuvering, performing the same function as canine claws.

The English word "Cheetah", its popular name, comes from the Indian language Hindi chiitaa, which is perhaps derived from Sanskrit chitraka, meaning "the spotted one". Asiatic Cheetah were found over most of India till recently and now only a remanent population of 50 to 60 survives only in Iran. Other major European languages use variants of the medieval Latin gattus pardus, meaning "cat-leopard i.e spotted cat": French guépard; Italian ghepardo; Spanish and Portuguese guepardo (also used chita); and German Gepard.

  • Population Status

Asiatic Cheetah "Acinonyx jubatus venaticus" is a Critically Endangered subspecie of Cheetah with only an estimated population of 50 to 60 remaining in the wild according to the latest estimates (2005-2006), all of them in Iran and none in Captivity in any zoo around the world.

Global: Category 3(A) Regional: Category 1(A) IUCN: Endangered

Cheetahs were probably extirpated in the following countries during the mid- to late 1900s: Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Western Sahara, and Yemen (Wrogemann 1975, Kraus and Marker-Kraus 1991: see Figure 2). A small, isolated population may persist in Egypt’s Qatarra Depression (IUCN 1976, Kraus and Marker-Kraus 1991, Amman 1993).

In Iran, B. Dareshuri estimates the Iranian population to be fewer than 50, with the north-eastern province of Khorasan being the stronghold (Karami 1992). The population has declined steeply in recent years; there were said to be over 200 cheetahs in Iran in the mid-1970s (E. Firouz, pers. comm. 1974), although some experts consider this figure an over-estimate (P.Joslin, pers.comm.)

Various proposals have been put forward to re-stock depleted areas with cheetahs of Sub-Saharan stock (e.g., Israel, India, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), but conserving extant populations is the priority. In addition, reintroduction should not be seriously considered until genetic comparisons (Hemmer 1988) and environmental impact evaluations have been carried out. The advice of the IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group should be obtained.

  • Principal Threats

The cheetahs of Iran and the Sahara exist in very low numbers, divided into widely separated populations. Their low density makes them particularly vulnerable to reduction of antelope prey through livestock overgrazing and hunting, coupled with direct persecution (cheetahs prey on livestock, especially young camels: K. de Smet pers. comm.). While protected areas comprise a key component of cheetah range, management needs to be improved. For example, grazing of domestic stock is reported to be particularly serious in Iran’s Khosh Yeilagh Reserve (Karami 1992), once known to hold an important resident cheetah population (Harrington 1977).

Cheetahs native to North Africa and South-West Asia are not known to be held in captivity.

Asiatic, Iranian, or Indian cheetah

The "Asiatic Cheetah" once ranged from Arabia to India, through Arabia, Iran, central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and, particularly in Iran and the Indian subcontinent, it was numerous. Cheetahs were easy to train, and rulers kept huge numbers for hunting gazelles. The Moghul Emperor of India, Akbar, is said to have had 1,000 at a time. It appears in many Persian and Indian miniature paintings. But by 1900 it was already headed for extinction in many areas. The last physical evidence of cheetahs in India was three shot (with two bullets) by the Maharajah of Surguja in 1947 in eastern Madhya Pradesh. Certain researchers consider the decline in the local Indian gazelle population of Chinkara as the reason behind the Asiatic Cheetah getting extinct in India. By 1990, cheetahs appeared to survive only in Iran. Estimated to number over 200 during the 1970s, current estimates by Iranian biologist Hormoz Asadi put the number at 50 to 100. (Latest figures for year 2005-2006 are just a total 50 to 60 prpbably remaining alive, all in Iran)

Following the Islamic Revolution of 1978, wildlife conservation was relegated to a back seat; reserves were invaded by livestock, which overgrazed the land, while both cheetahs and their principal prey, gazelles, were ruthlessly hunted, resulting in a rapid decline. As a result, the Asiatic cheetah is now listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Initial surveys by Asadi in the latter half of 1997 show that urgent action is required to rehabilitate wildlife populations, especially gazelles, and their habitat if the cheetah is to survive.

As a top predator, at the peak of food chains, the cheetah serves as a flagship for conservation efforts beneficial for biodiversity throughout its range. An agreement for cooperation has been reached between the Department of Environment, Islamic Republic of Iran, the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. Detailed surveys to map the distribution of cheetahs and associated wildlife, especially gazelles, and to assess the status of wild habitats are about to start, leading to recommendations to Iran’s Department of Environment for conservation of the cheetah as part of the country’s biodiversity. An educational and public awareness campaign, based on the cheetah, but encompassing the need for environmental conservation for the benefit of people, will be carried out. The cheetah is in dire straits in Iran, but all is not lost. Determined efforts, with international support, can ensure its future. However, the cheetah has to be viewed in the broad scene of the natural environment and its wildlife. There has been extensive deterioration of habitat through over-grazing by livestock. A million licensed guns, for which hunters received 300 rounds a year, plus probably two million more illegally held, represent a grave threat to all wildlife, including the cheetah and its main prey, gazelles. Protected areas have suffered from livestock invasion, and the owners see cheetahs as a threat to be eliminated if possible. Protected areas have suffered from livestock invasion, and the owners see cheetahs as a threat to be killed if the opportunity occurs. Additionally, cheetahs are known to have collapsed and died as a result of pursuit by people in cars and on motorcycles. Guards are too few to provide protection.

Other names

Indian Cheetah (English); Iranian / Persian Cheetah (English); chita, laggar (Hindi: India); yuz, yuz palang (Farsi or Persian: Iran); fahd al sayad (Arabic); yeoz (Brahui: Pakistan); gurk (Mekrani: Pakistan); pulam (Bukharian & Turkmenian); tazy palang (Dari: Afghanistan); tazy prang (Pashto: Afghanistan); ala bars, pyestrai or pyatnistai bars (Kazakh); myallen, koplon (Uzbek); Asiaskii gepard (Russian); adèle amayas (Tamahaq, Tamacheq [Touareg]: North-West Sahara); guépard (French); Gepard (German); guepardo, chita (Spanish);

Color morphs

Other rare color morphs included speckled cheetahs, melanistic cheetahs, albino cheetahs and grayish cheetahs. Most were reported in Indian cheetahs / Asiatic Cheetah, particularly in captive specimens kept for hunting.

The Mughal Emperor of India, Jahangir, recorded having a white Asiatic Cheetah presented to him in 1608. In the memoirs of Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, the Emperor says that in the third year of his reign: Raja Bir Singh Deo brought a white cheetah to show me. Although other sorts of creatures, both birds and beasts have white varieties .... I had never seen a white cheetah. Its spots, which are (usually) black, were of a blue colour, and the whiteness of the body also inclined to blue-ishness. This suggests a chinchilla mutation which restricts the amount of pigment on the hair shaft. Although the spots were formed of black pigment, the less dense pigmentation gives a hazy, grayish effect. As well as Jahangir's white Asiatic Cheetah at Agra, a report of "incipient albinism" has come from Beaufort West according to Guggisberg.

A Critically endangered subspecies

The "Asiatic Cheetah" is a Critically Endangered subspecies once found throughout Southwest Asia and into India, and now restricted to a few locations in Iran and perhaps Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In Iran, biologists have estimated that perhaps as few as 50 cheetah remain. The Cat Specialist Group is developing a research and conservation program in cooperation with Iran's Department of Environment. The Iranian Cheetah Society's website features current news about the efforts to save this rarest of the big cats.

In January 2001, Ali Reza Jourabchian of Iran’s Dept. of Environment captured the first images of the Asiatic cheetah in the wild on film since the early 1970s. This family was seen near Tabas, in Khorasan province.

Reports of cheetahs still existing in the Balochistan region of Pakistan have not been borne out by a recent CAT-sponsored survey of the southern part of the province. Gazelles have become very rare due to overhunting, and no cheetahs have been seen by locals for 15-20 years.

Analysis of Asiatic Cheetah genetics may shed light on the evolutionary history of the cheetah, which has resulted in its unusual genetic uniformity.

Project reports and background information

  • Syed Tasvir Husain. 2001 Survey for the Asiatic cheetah in Balochistan province, Pakistan. Final report to CAT and the Barbara Delano Foundation.
  • Genetics and conservation of the Saharan cheetah. Project proposal by Anne-Marie Drieux-Dumont of the Fonds de Conservation du Guépard, funded in 2002.
  • Cat Action Plan species account for Cheetah in North Africa and Southwest Asia.
  • Extinction record: Cat Action Plan map of the past and present range of the Asiatic cheetah.
  • The environmental limitations and future of the Asiatic cheetah in Iran. 1997. Hormoz Assadi, CSG Asiatic Cheetah Project report.
  • Read about how cheetahs were trained to hunt for the nobility in ancient India in historian Divyabhanusinh's book, The End of a Trail: The Cheetah in India.
  • As late as the World War II period, the tradition was carried on by Indian royal families, as described in this excerpt from Shri RS Dharmakumarsinhji's memoirs.
  • The last record for the cheetah in India dates to 1948, when a raja (King) shot three from his motorcar at night. Article from the Bombay Journal of Natural History.

Photos

  • Photos of Asiatic Cheetah in the wild in Iran obtained through placing camera traps from the “gallery” section of the website of “Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP)”, Government of Iran: http://cheetah.irandoe.org/gallery/index.html
  • Photos of Asiatic Cheetah in the wild in Iran obtained through placing camera traps from the “gallery” section of the website of “Iranian Cheetah Society(ICS)”, an important NGO: http://www.iraniancheetah.org/photogallery.htm

In the news

  • "Asiatic cheetahs caught on camera"

It's amazing what a remote camera will pick up. BBC News: Last Updated: Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 12:37 GMT 13:37 UK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4201180.stm

Description

The cheetah has a slender slim body and broad chest and a highly set abdomen, which resembles a hound. The Cheetah is, however, distinct from canids for its small and domed head with a short snout and small ears. In general, one can call it "a feline with canid head". Its back coat is light yellow to yellowish-amber and her underbody-coat is creamy white. Cheetah has full circular black spots with relatively short coarse fur. In adults, moving toward the end, the tail spots change to black rings, with the last ring as the widest. The cheetah's head is small and round and her eyes are set high on the skull. A pair of distinct black “tear marks” run from the corners of the eyes down the sides of the nose to the mouth, possibly keeping the sun out of the cheetah’s eyes, that helps her in hunting. Unlike other cats, the adult Cheetahs have dull, semi-retractable claws, although the young Cheetah – until about the first 6 months of their lives - are able to retract their claws.

  • Size: Adult head and body length 112-137 cm; tail length 64-86 cm; shoulder height 71-74 cm; weight 34-54 kg. The male is slightly larger than the female (this measurement refers to the Asian population).
  • Specializations: The cheetah’s flexible spine, oversized liver, enlarged heart, wide nostrils, increased lung capacity and thin, muscular body make this cat the swiftest hunter of world. The cheetah can reach a speed of 110 km/h in seconds.
  • Habitat: Cheetahs thrive in open lands, small plains, semi-desert areas and other open habitats where prey is available. In Iran, the few remaining Asiatic Cheetahs are found on the edge of central Kavir desert.
  • Social Behavior: Cheetahs have a unique social order. They have not been studied in Iran yet. Studies in Africa have shown that females live alone except when they are raising cubs. The female raises the cubs on her own. The first 18 months of a cub’s life are important; cubs learn many lessons because survival depends on knowing how to hunt wild prey species and how to avoid other predators such as leopards, hyenas and wolves

At 18 months the mother leaves the cubs, who then form a sibling group that may stay together for another 6 months. At about 2 years, the female siblings leave the group and the young males remain together for life. Males live alone or in coalition made up of brothers from the same litter but adult female are solitary except when accompanied by cubs. Some coalitions maintain territories in order to find females with which to mate. Territories are often located in areas where there is a sufficient supply of wild game and/or water. Fierce fights between male coalitions, resulting in serious injury or death, can occur when defending territories.

Cheetahs are usually diurnal, hunting in the cool morning and early evening. They approach their prey within 10-30 meters, and then begin the chase. The cheetah suffocates its prey by biting the underside of the throat. Chases last about 20 seconds and rarely longer than 1 minute and cannot continue a chase for more than about 500 m. About half of the chases are successful. Occasionally, other predators such as wolves steal the prey form the Cheetah. Unlike the leopard, the Cheetah is unable to hide its food from other carnivores, thus after each meal, in most cases the Cheetah loses its leftover food.

  • Breeding: Sexual maturity occurs at about 20 months. The gestation period is 95 days, and the litter size is 1-6 (usually 4-5 cubs). The cubs are up to 30 cm long and weight approximately 300 g at birth. They are smoky-gray in color with long hair, called mantle, running along their backs. The mantle serves several purposes; it is thought to help camouflage the cub in the dry grass, hiding it from predators. It is also thought to work as a mimicry defense, making the cubs resemble honey badgers (ratel)-- an aggressive animal. Because the cubs are able to retract their claws until the age 6 months, they are able to climb to the safety of trees.

The Asiatic cheetah’s range is restricted to the Central Iranian Plateau, with an estimated population of 60 adult cheetahs remaining. The main threat to the Asiatic cheetah is loss of their primary prey species, gebeer gazelle (Gazella dorcas), goitered gazelle (Gazella subgothrosa), urial sheep (Ovis orientalis) and wild goat (Capra aegagrus), due to poaching and grazing competition with domestic livestock. Habitat loss from mining development and poaching of Asiatic Cheetahs also threaten their populations in Iran. "Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)" and the "Department of Enavironment , Iran (DoE)" hope to begin collaring Asiatic Cheetahs in the fall of 2006.

Habitats in Iran, where the only known population is thought to survive today

The primary habitat of cheetah in Iran is the desert of Dasht-e- Kavir, which includes parts of Kerman, Khorasan, Semnan, Yazd, Tehran and Markazi provinces. Currently, this vast arid and dry desert area has become the last refuge for the Asiatic Cheetah. During the last two decades, the reported sightings of the Cheetahs in this vast area has dramatically been reduced. In particular, a few reports have been submitted of sightings in the Kavir National Park, Touran region, Naybandan Wildlife Refuge,Dar-e Anjir, Miandasht and Khosh Yeylagh. The spread of Cheetah sightings in recent years seems particularly less compared to the vast regions reported Cheetah activities between the years 1967-78, which included:

Tehran (Kavir National Park), Semnan (Touran, Khosh Yeylagh and vicinity), Khorasan (Miandasht and Tabas region), Yazd (Kalmand, Bafgh, Mehriz, Taft, and the city of Yazd), Isfehan (Mooteh And Kolah-Gahzie) Fars (Bahram-e Goor Wildlife Reserve), Kerman (Khabr-o-Rochoon region), Mazandaran (Golestan National Park), Hormozgan (around Hajiabad), and also other undocumented reports from Sistan (around

Hamoon-e Saberi) and Balouchistan (Bampour) and even Naft-Shahr in Kermanshah province.(Jowkar, 1999)

Nowadays, the Wildlife Refuge of Naybandan-Tabas, with an area of 1,500,000 ha, is one of the few places the cheetah can find shelter from adverse elements. The national park of Khartoran in the Semnan province has also been supporting a dwindling cheetah population over the years and is still one of the main sites for the project. Dar-e Angir and Bafkh in the province of Yazd and the National Kavir Park in Tehran Province are three other locations where the cheetah has been spotted.

Threats

The survival of Asiatic Cheetah faces a series of threats in Iran. Two main reasons account for the cheetah’s degeneration. The first is habitat disturbance and degradation, including desertification in large parts of the country. National Parks and other protected areas have been hard-hit, with the maximum destruction occurring between 1978 and 1990. The second is decline in prey.

  • Habitat degradation: spreading agriculture, industries, human settlements, mining and infrastructures has altered the majority of the natural habitat of the I.R. of Iran. Increasing numbers of livestock, introduced with no consideration for the capacity of the range and the season, has also been important in degrading pasture and lowering densities of ungulates, which are the principal prey of cheetahs. Almost all-rural people resident within the habitat of the Asiatic cheetah have goats, sheep and camels. This has been a hindrance to conservation of wildlife for quite some time, but today livestock grazing has become a widespread commercial venture, and overgrazing, including within protected areas, is common (with recurrence to commercial feeding in the dry season). Desertification has been sweeping much of the region where cheetahs are found, turning large areas into degraded environments of little or no economic or wildlife value. In such conditions, protected areas become a most obvious choice for the grazers. Today, the areas inhabited by the cheetah are fragmented and the main ones left in the I.R. of Iran, which still support wildlife. Much of these areas is between 100-600 meters in altitude and characterized by ranges of low hills with scant vegetation. The woodlands are mostly gone; the rivers are dry, except after heavy rain, and very few wild sheep, goats, asses, gazelles and cheetahs remain.
  • Non-habitat-related threats: Direct killing of wildlife in the I.R. of Iran paralleled the increasing abundance of firearms and the use of vehicles for hunting. Most poachers are not aware of the importance of the cheetah and its prey in the ecological system, and illegal hunting appears only a minor offence to them. In addition to illegal killing, nearly one million hunting licenses are issued yearly, with an annual quota of 300 bullets provided by the State. To this should be added the commercial exploitation of certain species, e.g. gazelles, leopards, falcons, bustards, partridges, waterfowl and crocodiles, which are all too often over-harvested from the wild. Given the small number of animals that survive, poaching is a very serious threat facing the cheetah (despite the fact that poaching is banned under current laws). In each population there may be only 1-15 animals. In light of the uncertain sex ratio, poaching of any single cat could easily undermine the long-term survival of the entire population in the I.R. of Iran. Unfortunately, control of poaching is difficult; for instance, the cheetah area is rich in commercially and industrially important minerals, which are being exploited by the Ministry of Industry & Mines. Mining itself is not a direct threat, but the construction of road networks makes cheetah areas accessible to people, including poachers.

Areas

1. Kavir National Park (NP) Semnan Province 400,000 hectares 4 game posts Cheetah population: approx. 4-6 Kavir National Park is located only 50 km southwest of Tehran and is a biosphere reserve. Once called Little Africa, this area has a rich biome. The game species are gazelle dorcas and goitered gazelle, wild sheep, wild goat, hyena, leopard, wolf, cheetah and also rare species of small felids, such as sand cat and caracal.

2. Kharturan National Park, Wild Life Refuge, and Biosphere Reserve Semnan Province 1,400,000 hectares 5 game posts Cheetah population: approx. 10-14 This area is a biosphere reserve and one of the most important and invaluable areas in Iran under protection of DoE. It houses a collection of almost all the famous Iranian desert game species such as gazelle dorcas and goitered gazelle, wild sheep, wild goat, hyena, leopard, wolf, cheetah and also one of two last remaining refuges for the rare Asiatic wild ass, or onager. Estimates put the number of species in this National Park to be around 250-300 heads.

3. Naybandan Wildlife Refuge (WR) Northeastern Yazd Province 1,500,000 hectares 4 game posts Cheetah population: approx. 12-15 Other game species: gazelle dorcas, wild sheep, wild goat, hare, hyena, leopard, and wolf

4. Bafq Protected Area (PA) Yazd Province 150,000 hectares 2 game posts Cheetah population: approx. 4-6 Bafq is located 100 km east of Yazd with an extreme dry climate. Its game species are goitered gazelle, wild sheep, wild goat, hyena, leopard, and wolf

5. Dar-e Anjir Wild Life Refuge (WR) Yazd Province 150,000 hectares 1 game post Cheetah population: approx. 3-5 The area has a fragile biome. Game species are gazelle dorcas, wild sheep, wild goat, fox, hyena, and leopard

Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP)

Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP), Government of Iran:

"Call for the Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah"

Secretariat of the Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP)

Every living creature is a unique and irreplaceable outcome of million years of perfection, a wonder of unmatched aesthetic value. As human beings living on this planet, we need to preserve the diversity of our world, either through donations or through other means of support. We need strategies that are scientifically studied and tempered by experience.

Having gone extinct in other parts of the continent, where it once thrived in large numbers, the Asiatic Cheetah is in dire need for help. CACP was an acknowledgement of the precarious situation that the cheetah found itself in. The Project was launched August 2001 and less than 2 years remains until its termination. We invite researchers, scientists, university students, lecturers, members of Non-governmental Organizations, and all those who are concerned with environmental conservation to join us in doing what is necessary.

CACP asks for your suggestions, criticisms, and practical solutions. The world would be a more harmonious place if everyone took part in the Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project.

About The CACP Project

  • Project Summary

The joint DoE & UNDP/GEF project on the Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah (CAC) has been running since September 2001 in collaboration with Wild Conservation Society (WCS), Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), and International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The project hopes to secure the conservation of Asiatic Cheetah in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the related complex of rare and endangered wild species and their natural habitat with the support and collaboration of local communities. This will be achieved through a combination of collaborative management, education and awareness building, and direct action to improve enforcement of laws and regulations, and scientific research. Emergency measures to improve survival of cheetah in the immediate future will also be undertaken, so as to ensure that viable populations survive to benefit from the longer-term impacts of the core project activities. All activities will benefit from increased scientific understanding of the cheetah, it’s associated biota, the ecosystems that they inhabit, and the anthropogenic threats they face. The provision and continual improvement of this information will also constitute an important output of the project. Experience from this project will be of help to indigenous communities and environmental protection agencies in other countries in establishing effective management partnerships to protect and sustain their endangered species and habitats. GEF and the Government of the I.R. of Iran, as well as other governments and non-governmental organizations, will also learn valuable management lessons for protection and sustainable use of fragile arid land biomes – an important thematic area of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

  • What should be done?

Today, Asiatic Cheetah occupies an important symbolic place in the Iranian culture, so much so that the President of the Republic has specifically called for its protection. Along the same line, many International organizations have offered their technical and financial support.

The importance of Collaborative Management (CM) processes at local level, and for a variety of stakeholders, cannot be overemphasized as a strategic mechanism in any proposed action plan. In fact, stakeholder involvement is at the heart of this project. In the crucial biotic territories, wildlife managers, local communities, nomadic herders, government officials (in particular, local DoE officials), environmental advocates, NGOs and local authorities will negotiate among themselves a fair share of management functions, rights and responsibilities, exploiting to the full their complementary capacities. As far as possible, the negotiation processes will pursue the coupling of environmental responsibilities (via management plans) and socio-economic benefits related to support for cheetah conservation (via Community Green Funds and micro-finance initiatives) for all the persons involved. The methodology for collaborative management that will be employed in the project is based on lessons learned in many countries, as well as in the I.R. of Iran, and will be thoroughly adapted to the socio-cultural realities of the Iranian society.

Given the participatory nature of the collaborative management processes, at the current planning stage their overall products can be foreseen only in a broad way. Local collaborative management plans – including new land zoning arrangements for land use and protected areas, development of new local regulations including those that dictate resource-use, land rehabilitation initiatives and desertification prevention measures, improved enforcement of existing laws etc. – together with a number of socio-economic initiatives for the sustainable well-being of the human communities living within or in proximity to the natural habitats will be developed and implemented. Mechanisms to improve the well being of the local communities may include Community Green Funds to support alternative livelihoods, benefit-sharing of income from hunting, small eco-tourism projects, and mechanisms to provide micro-finance for local, social and economic development.

There is need to set priorities, two critical immediate steps are:

Education in each community

Reduce issuance of annual gun licenses

Website of Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP), Government of Iran: http://cheetah.irandoe.org/about/index.html

Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS)

Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), an important NGO:

About ICS

Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) is an Iranian, independent, non-profit NGO established in Aug 2001 and works to save the last remains of the Asiatic Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus venaticus just living in Iran, so more appropriate to be called the Iranian cheetah.

ICS was founded by three young enthusiast students , Mohammad Farhadinia (director), Kaveh Hatami and Morteza Eslami who all had worked since 1997 on the cheetah personally. It is based in Tehran with members from all around the country. Presently, more than 20 people are working as staff at ICS Cheetah Center with various skills, all interested to do something for the cheetah.

ICS is committed to the following goals:

  • Public awareness about the cheetah and its associated biota through education mainly at the local communities
  • Reducing human-cheetah conflict via implementing socio-economic plans
  • Biological surveys to know more about the Iranian cheetah
  • Conserving the cheetah in its natural habitats, particularly through public participation.

ICS has focused a considerable part of its energy on two habitats as ICS Pilot Sites, Miandasht Wildlife Refuge and Abbas Abad Reserve where ICS is conducting several research plans to identify the cheetah hotspots, its seasonal movements and its interaction to the other species. On the other hand, educational efforts are being measured among the local communities inside and around the above pilot sites.

Website of "Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), an important NGO": http://www.iraniancheetah.org/main.htm

Collaring for radio-telemetry studies

Studies of the Asiatic Cheetah in Iran, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

In the late 1990s, the Islamic Republic of Iran became very concerned about environmental degradation and conservation of its wildlife, including the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah. Before this time, there were few initiatives to protect habitat and wildlife populations in the country. Iran considers the cheetah an important part of its natural and cultural heritage and the cheetah has become a symbol of conservation efforts in Iran.

During a visit to Iran by Dr. George Schaller in November 2000, the Iranian Department of Environment (DoE) suggested that WCS participate in a newly initiated cheetah conservation program. Dr. Tim O'Brien and George Schaller returned in the fall of 200l to determine the best methods to census the Asiatic cheetah and its prey, and to become familiar with conservation issues in the area. They held a workshop with local reserve staff on field techniques, such as proper record keeping and camera trap methods. Tim returned in 2002 and 2003 to set up and monitor camera traps. At the same time, Dr. Eric Sanderson, of the WCS Living Landscapes program, worked with Iranian counterparts on establishing a cheetah data base and a GIS landscape program to define cheetah habitat.

In early 2004, Dr. Luke Hunter, Coordinator of the WCS Great Cats Program, with George Schaller, spent a month visiting Iran to find a suitable sight to carry out telemetry of the Asiatic cheetah. The Bafgh Protected Area was selected for intensive work because prey species occur at relatively high densities and cheetah sightings appear to be frequent and occur year round. Bafgh is also home to leopards and striped hyenas; therefore this sight is ideal for studying the entire carnivore community.

WCS has finally secured US government permission to proceed with our proposal to undertake the first ever telemetry study of the last remaining Asiatic cheetahs and other large carnivores in collaboration with the DoE. It will be the first detailed ecological study of cheetahs in Asia, and will furnish critical information to make very specific recommendations for the future conservation planning of this critically endangered population. It also represents one of the very few telemetry studies conducted in the country since the Iranian Revolution. There is currently no radio-telemetry research active in the country; this will be the only major research effort of its type and will be a unique opportunity for Iranian biologists and students to acquire training and expertise in conducting such a project.

The Asiatic cheetah’s range is restricted to the Central Iranian Plateau, with an estimated population of 60 adult cheetahs remaining. The main threat to the Asiatic cheetah is loss of their primary prey species, gebeer gazelle (Gazella dorcas), goitered gazelle (Gazella subgothrosa), urial sheep (Ovis orientalis) and wild goat (Capra aegagrus), due to poaching and grazing competition with domestic livestock. Habitat loss from mining development and poaching of cheetahs also threaten their populations in Iran. WCS and the DoE hope to begin collaring Asiatic cheetahs in the fall of 2006.

"Capturing" the Asiatic Cheetah for Collaring or Captive Breeding programs

Points to be taken into consideration before any “Capturing” of the Asiatic Cheetah / Iranian Cheetah for “Collaring” or “Captive Breeding” programs is undertaken:

  • No genetic studies have been done on the genetic material collected from Asiatic Cheetahs to establish how different they are from their African cousins. For instance we are now more aware of how, critically endangered, Asiatic Lions differ from their African cousins.
  • "Live tissue samples" can also be collected at the same time from captured Cheetahs and frozen in liquid nitrogen immediately which will help not only us but many of our future generations as well to resurrect many “cloned” Asiatic Cheetahs out of every single one caught who may soon die in the field with all its living cells perishing containing the invaluable genetic material and a complete package of evolutionary instincts lost forever by decomposing and scavenging in the field / wild.

This is why there is an extreme urgency to re-educate modern scientists and naturalists in all allied fields worldwide to think of species and especially critically endangered species like the Asiatic Cheetah on a “living cell level” as all the genetic material and millions of years of evolutionary instincts are in a compact package therein. It is heartening to know for all of us that even if a highly endangered animal dies its cells remain alive in their fresh dead bodies for hours and sometimes days in winter. For example bits and pieces of bone and tissue collected from Hyena, jackal and vulture scavenged dead bodies of Asiatic Cheetah from the wild can yield hundreds of living Asiatic Cheetahs in the future. Cloning science is already well developed and promises to only get better in the years to come. Frozen tissue in liquid nitrogen collected now can be used to resurrect not only extinct species but highly endangered dead animals on a yearly basis to pair and breed with highly endangered dwindling populations on a regular basis in the future not only today by us but by all our future generations for thousands of years to come. The fact that a relatively numerous sister species like the leopard can be impregnated with a Asiatic Cheetah cloned embryo makes all this much easier as highly endangered Asiatic Cheetah mothers will never be required to bear and rear the cubs from cloned embryos.

  • Male Asiatic Cheetah captured or tranquilized can be milked for their “sperm” which can be frozen in liquid nitrogen. It is a common and essential practice used for endangered species all over the world, in the zoos. There is special technology developed to give a light shock to the testicles to collect the ejaculate. In animal husbandry however, milking for sperms is done on regular basis by conditioning the animals to ejaculate.
  • Overdose of tranquilizer can kill an animal. Body weight and age of the animal may determine the amount of tranquilizer to be used. It is a very specialized task.
  • Other methods of capturing the Asiatic Cheetah for collaring or captive breeding including the ones traditionally used in India or the ones used in Africa may need to be properly investigated. The use of modern technologies like using a "laser" or a remotely controlled device and a video camera to drop a trapdoor need to be investigated.
  • Captured Cheetahs are not ferocious and can be handled by humans relatively easier when all precautions are taken to not injure the animal or oneself. This is how Cheetahs were captured in India for centuries. There is footage on films available where nets were used to capture Cheetahs in Africa in which they were driven and once cornered handled immediately thereafter without being tranquilized, people just went in and caught them by their tails in the footage on this particular film which I personally saw about 15 to 20 years ago in which they also showed how different a proposition it was in case of leopards in comparison to cheetahs which are very very ferocious.
  • Traditional, centauries old, perfected methods of capturing Asiatic Cheetahs in India are mentioned in some detail in the book: "The end of a trail, Cheetah in India", by Divyabhanusinh. This book is profiled at the CAT website on this page and several other commercial website for books: http://www.felidae.org/PROJECTS/Asiatic_Cheetah/divyatitl/divyatitl.html

On Trapping, Training, Treatment of and Hunting with Cheetahs; Read Chapter 7 from above book from the CAT website: http://www.felidae.org/LIBRARY/divyabhanusinh.pdf

Captive Breeding of Cheetahs is “Notoriously Difficult”

  • Before any wild Asiatic Cheetahs are captured and removed from the fragmented tiny populations of 5 to 15 living in the Iranian reserves today and a total population of around 60 in the whole world all of them in Iran it has to be considered and communicated to all concerned that cheetahs are extremely difficult to breed in captivity. Even though thousands of Asiatic Cheetahs were captured and kept in captivity on a regular basis for hunting purpose for centuries in India there is only one record of them having ever bred in captivity. Mugal Emperor of India Akbar the Great son's recorded birth of one litter in the 16th century. No further captive births have ever been recorded for the Asiatic Cheetah before or since till date. It is a well known fact that all cheetahs are extremely difficult to breed in captivity. All of the modern techniques for successful cheetah captive breeding have to be researched from zoos and institutions from all over the world who have achieved some success in this aspect before any captive breeding program is taken up.
  • However “live tissue” and “sperm” samples frozen in liquid nitrogen collected from Asiatic cheetahs captured for collaring or from freshly dead ones found in the field can be used to clone hundreds of Asiatic Cheetahs in the years to come when the cloning science will be even more advanced. It will definitely make more sense to use these cloned cheetahs for a captive breeding program with very low success rate.
  • Modern research has found from extensive observations in the wild that males and females in captivity should be kept separately in far removed enclosures. After a female in heat has saturated her breeding enclosure with her urine, a completely “stranger” male should be introduced in the enclosure for a short period for mating and the pair should be made to part ways shortly again. Males and females kept together for a long time tend to never breed.
  • There is little genetic variation between individual cheetahs in general. This is believed to have occurred from a population "bottleneck" suffered by them some 10,000 years ago when only a handful survived. It does not appear that their lack of variation causes any problems in the wild though higher mortality in cubs may be attributed to it.
  • Captive breeding has become very specialized and procedures like in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination have been successful in assisting breeding.
  • Comments from Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) on Cheetah Captive Breeding and survival Challenges:

Molecular genetic studies on free-ranging and captive cheetahs have shown that the species lacks genetic variation, probably due to past inbreeding, as long as ten thousand years ago. The consequences of such genetic uniformity have led to reproductive abnormalities, high infant mortality, and greater susceptibility to disease, causing the species to be less adaptable and more vulnerable to ecological and environmental changes.

Unfortunately, captive breeding efforts have not proven to be meaningful to the cheetah's hope for survival. The similar experiences of the world's zoos have reaffirmed the traditional difficulties of breeding cheetahs in captivity. Despite the capturing, rearing, and public display of cheetahs for thousands of years, the next reproductive success, after Akbar the Great son's recorded birth of one litter in the 16th century (reference is made here to the Emperor of India and the only recorded captive Asiatic Cheetah birth in history), occurred only in 1956 at the Philadelphia Zoo. Unlike the other 'big cats', which breed readily in captivity, the captive population of cheetahs is not self-sustaining and, thus, is maintained through the import of wild-caught animals, a practice which goes against the goals of today's' zoological institutions. Although reproduction has occurred at many facilities in the world, only a very small percentage of cheetahs have ever reproduced and cub mortality is high. In the absence of further importations of wild-caught animals, the size of the captive population can be expected to decline, a trend, which coupled with the continuing decline of the wild population, leaves the species extremely vulnerable.

Cheetah Fact Sheet, Other Survival Challenges: http://www.cheetah.org/?nd=43

  • Comments from Smithsonian National Zoological Park that Cheetahs are “Notoriously Difficult to Breed”:

Other management techniques also proved critical in encouraging the cats to mate. Zoos looked at studies of cheetahs' behavior in the wild for clues to facilitating successful mating in zoos. In the wild, adult males (usually brothers) live in coalitions of two or three individuals and defend a single territory as a group, while females are nomadic and completely solitary except when they have a litter, Saffoe explains. And females decide when and with which males they will mate. When a female is in estrus, she enters the males' territory only when she is ready, and she also determines how long she waits for the males to come and find her. "In zoos we have historically tried to choose when we want females to breed and who we want them to breed with, and that does not work with cheetahs," says Saffoe. "Once zoos started paying attention to the behavior and biology of cheetahs and listening to what they were telling us, we started getting successful births."

Unlike domestic cats, which moan, spray, and roll when in heat, female cheetahs exhibit few outward signs when they are ready to mate. Chemical changes in a female's urine are one of the few indicators, and the scent of a female's urine signals to males that she is in estrus. When the Zoo wants to breed a female cheetah, keepers give her a few days to saturate the ground in an enclosure with her urine, and then introduce a male into the yard. "We wait for the males to tell us the female is in estrus," says Saffoe. If the time is not yet right, the male may just walk around, sniff, and lie down. But if the female is in estrus, "it's like someone flicked a light switch," Saffoe says. The male chirps, yelps, and runs around the yard. If the female is then allowed into the adjacent yard, he usually starts stuttering, a low throaty sound like a pigeon cooing, which is a direct solicitation to the female to mate.

While the males make their intentions well known, the females' signs of interest are much subtler, Saffoe says. If the female raises her tail and exposes her genital area, or lies down and starts rolling, she may be willing to mate. But even those behaviors are not foolproof indicators. "The trick is in knowing whether she's rolling because she's interested in mating or because her back itches," says Saffoe. "We have to spend a lot of time looking at those signs and learning to interpret them."

Before Tumai's and Zazi's pregnancies, there were nine natural matings at the National Zoo. Two females also were artificially inseminated via a method developed by Howard in which a thin rod called a laparoscope is inserted through a tiny incision in the cheetah's abdomen to deposit semen directly into the uterus. Throughout North America, this method has achieved a 45 percent pregnancy rate and produced 19 cubs since the early 1990s. But with the National Zoo's cheetahs it failed. During those pregnancies, keepers learned that an animal's weight may be as reliable a sign of pregnancy as fecal hormone tests and can yield results more quickly. "Weight follows the same pattern as the hormones," Saffoe says. Up to 60 days after mating, females gain weight, and in each false pregnancy their weight has dropped between 60 and 70 days after mating, Saffoe says, noting that "what made us relatively certain Tumai was pregnant was that her weight shot up after day 60." Zazi followed the same pattern.

Conceiving a Future for Cheetahs: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/5/futureforcheetahs.cfm

Links

  • Book on Asiatic Cheetah in India: "The end of a trail, Cheetah in India", by Divyabhanusinh:

About this title: This is a pictorial history of the cheetah in India from the pre-historic period to the present. It provides a comprehensive account of the animal's interaction with man through the ages, reconstructing the life of the cheetah in captivity and its use by Indian royalty as an aid to hunting. Divyabhanusinh examines anew the process of the Indian cheetah's decline in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, charting its path to extinction and analysing the causes of its disappearance. In this impression, the 'Epilogue 2001' provides a complete update on the information in the book, including detailed new findings on the evolution of cheetahs from Africa and Asia. It also gives fresh evidence about the sadly declining numbers of cheetah in Iran, and the existence, albeit not very optimistic, of the animal in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The epilogue also documents cases of the killing of the cheetah for rewards, a practice performed in British India, leading to its extermination. Finally, the author proposes a reintroduction of the cheetah in a select part of India. But if the cheetah is to survive at all on the Indian subcontinent, it will require the unconditional support of the governments of India, Iran, and Pakistan. The author mines a wide range of sources -- from prehistoric cave paintings, Sanskrit, Classical Greek and Roman literature to Mughal miniature paintings, rare photographs, shikar literature of the British Raj, and interviews. Containing several illustrated book is an indispensable reference work and has led to a renewed interest in the cheetah's reintroduction in India.

http://www.felidae.org/PROJECTS/Asiatic_Cheetah/divyatitl/divyatitl.html

Read Chapter 7 from the above book: On Trapping, Training, Treatment of and Hunting with Cheetahs: http://www.felidae.org/LIBRARY/divyabhanusinh.pdf

  • Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP), Government of Iran:

Official Government of Iran Website: The joint DoE & UNDP/GEF project on the Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah (CAC) has been running since September 2001 in collaboration with Wild Conservation Society (WCS), Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), and International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

http://cheetah.irandoe.org/about/index.html http://cheetah.irandoe.org/index.html

  • Iranian Cheetah Society(ICS) is an important NGO:

Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) is an Iranian, independent, non-profit NGO established in Aug 2001 and works to save the last remains of the Asiatic cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus venaticus just living in Iran, so more appropriate to be called the Iranian cheetah.

http://www.iraniancheetah.org/

  • Yahoo Group of IranianCheetahSociety(ICS):

Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) is an Iranian, independent, non-profit NGO established in Aug 2001 and works to save the last remains of the Asiatic Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus venaticus just living in Iran, so more appropriate to be called the Iranian cheetah. For further information please refer to: www.iraniancheetah.org

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IraniancheetahSociety/

  • Wild About Cats Website Page: "Marita" the last captive "Asiatic Cheetah":

This is Marita. She was saved as a cub after her mother was killed by livestock herders. We are sorry to say that the beloved Marita has passed on at 11pm on December 23, 2003, of respiratory failure. She had two veterinarians and Hormoz Asadi with her. On a good note, she lived a full 9-1/2 years, which is a reasonably full lifespan in captivity. There is no longer a captive Asiatic cheetah, however, wild cheetahs have been spotted in Iran and are currently being studied. Wild About Cats Website:

http://www.wildaboutcats.org/index.htm http://www.wildaboutcats.org/asiatic.htm

  • Cat Specialist Group 1996. Acinonyx jubatus ssp. venaticus. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.:

http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/220/all; http://www.iucnredlist.org/

  • “Iran-zoo” Page on: Iranian (Asiatic) Cheetah, (Acinonyx Jubatus Venaticus), Yuzpalang-in Persian:

http://iranzoo.tripod.com/cheetah/cheetah.html; Iran-zoo is an independently maintained website. http://iranzoo.tripod.com/main.html;

hin:चीता

Related Sites

NBSAP – The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan CHM website posts brief reports on the activities carried out under the NBSAP project and enumerates its accomplishments: http://www.biodiversity.ir/

WCS – The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society has sent three experts to study cheetah biology and ecosystem, and to improve the GIS lab of the Iranian DoE. The world-famous Dr. George Schaller and Dr Timothy O’Brien visited cheetahs habitats in Kavir National Park, Kharturan National Park and Dar-e Anjir Hunting Prohibited Area in November 2001. Dr Eric Sanderson, a GIS expert, developed an information database for the CACP in May 2002: http://www.wcs.org/353624/194354; http://www.wcs.org/

Studies of the Asiatic Cheetah in Iran (WCS) http://savingwildplaces.com/swp-home/swp-explorationandsurvey/239531

CCF – The Namibia-based Cheetah Conservation Fund has been active in this field for more than 30 years, and their expertise has made their contribution to the Project indispensable. CCF participation in the Project focuses on promoting collaborative management. Dr Laurie Marker and Cynthia Olson, visited Iran in November 2001 and took a trip to Kharturan NP: http://www.cheetah.org/; CCF Collaboration with "The Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS)" is an NGO: http://www.cheetah.org/?nd=47

IUCN – The World Conservation Union is participating in the CAC Project through two commissions: the Cat Specialist Group and the Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP). Dr Gus Mills from South Africa and head of Hyena Specialist Group SSC/IUCN visited Iran in May & June 2002 to study the cheetah habitat in Naaybandaan WR. Mr. Taqi Farvar, head of CEESP commission, will be in charge of the Inception Mission in this project: http://www.iucn.org/

CSG - The Cat Specialist Group, IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group: http://www.catsg.org/

ICS – The Iranian Cheetah Society is an NGO concerned with the fate of the Asiatic cheetah. The Society’s main activity at this point is public awareness: http://www.iraniancheetah.org/

Latest news & developments

“Collaring” the Asiatic Cheetah to pull it away from Extinction: Studies of the Asiatic Cheetah in Iran: http://savingwildplaces.com/swp-home/swp-explorationandsurvey/239531;

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Joins Efforts to Save Rare Asiatic Cheetah: http://www.wcs.org/353624/194354

Aug 17, 2006: Necklaces Will Track Asiatic Cheetahs: http://www.iran-daily.com/1385/2638/html/panorama.htm#s166707

August 16, 2006: Crossbreeding with an Extinct Species: http://roguepundit.typepad.com/roguepundit/2006/08/hybridizing_wit.html

July 2006: Efforts to Confirm A New Cheetah Habitat in Iran: http://www.iraniancheetah.org/NaeinCheetah.htm

Jun 15, 2006: Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP) Extended for Two Years, Ultralight Aircraft Count Wildlife Prey: http://iran-daily.com/1385/2586/html/panorama.htm#s151572

May 11, 2006: 'Illegal hunters endanger Iran's rare cheetah': http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?ArchiveNews=Yes&NewsCode=42769&NewsKind=CurrentAffairs

Apr 20, 2006: Asiatic Cheetah Spotted in Gonabad (Iran): http://iran-daily.com/1385/2541/html/panorama.htm#s138498

Mar 29, 2006: Cheetah cloning on CCMB's agenda: http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/29/stories/2006032917840200.htm

March 28, 2006: Indian lab behind artificial insemination fawn http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1661160,0004.htm

Feb 23, 2006: Injured Cheetah Still Missing: http://iran-daily.com/1384/2506/html/panorama.htm#s128250

Aug 31, 2005: (Injured Asiatic Cheetah discovered in these “Camera Trap” photos:) "Asiatic cheetahs caught on camera", It's amazing what a remote camera will pick up: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4201180.stm

Dec 22, 2005: Cheetah Sightings Rise: The Asiatic cheetah numbers about "60" at present, with the majority living in Iran: http://iran-daily.com/1384/2457/html/panorama.htm#s114378

Oct 20, 2005: Paragliders Conducting Semnan Wildlife Survey: http://iran-daily.com/1384/2406/html/panorama.htm#s99825

Aug 31, 2005: Asiatic cheetahs caught on camera, It's amazing what a remote camera will pick up: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4201180.stm

Jul 12, 2005: Written in “Reaction to” Iran opposing the joint Asiatic Cheetah Cloning Project with India. "Indo-Iranian Cooperation" (a request for both the countries to co-operate on “Asiatic Cheetah” and “Asiatic Lion” conservation) by Rajesh Sethi, Armaantt@yahoo.com (Found at the bottom of this page from Iran Daily) http://iran-daily.com/1384/2321/html/national.htm#top

Jul 9, 2005: No cloning of Cheetah: Iran: Kounteya Sinha, Times News Network http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1165783.cms

Jul 9, 2005: Mullahs' regime says "No" to cloning of Cheetah: http://www.iranian.ws/cgi-bin/iran_news/exec/view.cgi/3/8133

Jun 09, 2005: Census on Preys of Asiatic Cheetah: http://iran-daily.com/1384/2294/html/panorama.htm#67368

Apr 21, 2005: Cheetah Cloning Proposal Opposed: http://iran-daily.com/1384/2255/html/panorama.htm#56145

Mar 17, 2005: Census on Asiatic Cheetah Complete: http://www.iran-daily.com/1383/2239/html/panorama.htm#51378

Jan 27, 2005: Asiatic Cheetah Killed in Accident: An Asiatic cheetah was found dead in Kalmand protected area in Mahriz this week: http://iran-daily.com/1383/2201/html/panorama.htm#40857

November 3, 2004: Iran Joins the World Conservation Union (ENS): GLAND, Switzerland - The Islamic Republic of Iran has joined IUCN-The World Conservation Union and becomes the 80th country to become a member of the prestigious international conservation organization.

Iran's Asiatic Cheetah is considered at risk of extinction. The Asiatic Cheetah once ranged from Arabia to India, through Arabia, Iran, central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and, particularly in Iran and the Indian subcontinent, it was numerous, according to a 1998 report by Peter Jackson, chairman of the IUCN-Species Survival Commission Cat Specialist Group and a professional conservation journalist for over 30 years. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2004/2004-11-03-02.asp

Aug 07, 2004: Cloning wild animals: Opinion - Editorials http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/08/07/stories/2004080703261000.htm

January 31, 2003: India seeks Iran's help with cheetahs: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2714553.stm

Jan 29, 2003: Cheetah cloning project gets a boost: By Mohammed Shafeeq, Indo-Asian News Service http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/wildlife-india/2003-January/000183.html

May 20, 2002: Extinct Indian cheetah may stage a comeback: http://www.dawn.com/2002/05/20/int12.htm

October 10, 2001: Iran to expand conservation work with IUCN, IUCN news release: Gland, Switzerland, (IUCN) http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2001_2005/press/iranminister.html http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2001/newoctober01.htm

October 16, 2000: India to clone cheetah: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/974858.stm

October 8, 2000: Endangered species cloned: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/962159.stm

See also

Cloning

In January 2003, India announced plans to clone cheetahs to help restore the Indian sub-continent's cheetah population (which has been wiped out in India). India asked Iran to provide cheetahs for cloning. The Asiatic Cheetah, once found throughout Southwest Asia and the South Asian subcontinent, is now restricted to about 50 individuals in a few locations in Iran, with possibly a few in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Scientists at Hyderabad’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology plan to create the clones from live cells from the Iranian cheetahs. Scientists are aware that it will not be an easy experiment and will take a lot of research, dedication and hard work. They plan to use a leopard as surrogate mother to produce the cloned cheetah cubs.

Domestic cats have successfully carried transplanted embryos of endangered wild small cat species (see below) and domestic cattle have successfully carried cloned calves of endangered bovine species so there a leopard could theoretically carry a cheetah cub. If they use an egg cell from the leopard, the cubs' mitochondrial DNA will be from the leopard, however, the offspring will be a cheetah (have nucleus DNA from cheetah cell donor), not a leopard/cheetah hybrid. Following the birth of domestic cat clone Cc in 2001, Martha Gomez's team at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) cloned the African wild cat in 2003, using domestic cats as surrogate mothers. The results were 2 males (a third male did not survive) and 5 females that will now be bred in the conventional manner. They were created using African wildcat DNA with the domestic cats used as egg donors and surrogate mothers. The next step is to demonstrate that the clones breed normally.

In January 2005, Gomez's team announced their attempts to clone the rare Black-Footed Cat (a southern African small cat) and the intention to clone the Rusty Spotted Cat (a small cat from India and Sri Lanka). In 2004, cloned Black-Footed Cat embryos, were implanted into a domestic cat surrogate mother, but none survived to full term. It is possible that the two species are too distantly related for the surrogacy to work. To clone the Rusty Spotted cat, preserved cells from a deceased US zoo specimen will be used. There are 13 rusty spotted cats in captivity and their wild counterparts are endangered by hybridisation with domestic cats. Their ability to hybridise means they should be closely enough related that domestic cat surrogates can be used. Cloning could also be used to help endangered tigers. Because lions and tigers can interbreed, tiger DNA could be implanted into a lion donor egg and lion surrogate mother. However, a more obvious and less expensive method would be to stop zoos and private menageries from breeding trash tigers (where they indiscriminately mix different subspecies) including white tigers (heavily inbred mutants) and to concentrate on breeding tiger subspecies. This would prevent the need for cloning tigers.

The "end of extinction" scenario

This note has been added for those interested in the cloning of extinct species. There are several obstacles to be overcome in resurrecting extinct species through cloning. Firstly, there is the problem obtaining intact DNA. The DNA in preserved specimens is fragmented; many preserving processes damage the DNA. Reassembling fragmented DNA may not be possible; errors in the reassembly equate to mutations and will most likely be lethal. It might be possible to "borrow" DNA from a suitable closely related living species to compensate for damaged stretches of DNA. Even where good tissue samples are available, there is the problem of surrogate mothers. Cloned embryos must be implanted into compatible mothers (e.g. same gestation period).

To resurrect an extinct animal, both males and females must be cloned in order to breed. If only one gender is available for cloning, it may be possible to cross a clone with an individual of a closely related species and then back-cross the crossbreed offspring to the original (pure-bred) clone. Over five to seven back-crossings will result in an almost pure-bred population. There might not be a compatible, closely related species to hybridise with. It might be possible to "borrow" DNA from a suitable closely related living species to do a sex-change on a cloned embryo. This is less of an issue in reptiles where sex determination depends on incubation temperature.

To establish a successful breeding population, there must be genetic diversity i.e. as many different individuals as possible must be cloned. If this is not possible, cross-breeding may be needed. The clones would not have adults of their own species to learn from and might not learn certain skills e.g. hunting, social behaviour. There also needs to be a habitat to release the resurrected species into, otherwise they will end up as novelties in zoos and safari parks. Recently extinct species where good quality DNA samples are preserved in tissue banks and where closely related species can provide surrogate mothers are more likely to be successfully resurrected. There is some hope of finding preserved DNA in frozen mammoths and using elephants as surrogates. Some extinct subspecies of big cat might be candidates for resurrection as they have living relatives. At our present level of knowledge, a lack of undamaged DNA means species such as moas, dodos, warrahs, quaggas and thylacines will remain extinct for the foreseeable future.

Plans to clone

India plans to clone the locally extinct Indian / Iranian / Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) with the help of Iran:

India is eager reintroduce the Asiatic Cheetah to her wilds with the help of Iran and has invested in infrastructure to clone the Asiatic Cheetah. Indian scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) are working on the Cheetah cloning project.

Asiatic Cheetah cloning project is key to its long term survival, cells from freshly found dead Asiatic Cheetah in the field can be made into several live cheetah in the future. This is how India can contribute in bringing back the Asiatic Cheetah from the brink of extinction in the long run and help in re-introducing some to her own wilds once again. An agreement with Iran to return a live Asiatic Cheetah for every dead one sent to India could work over the long-term. Iranians need to preserve any fresh dead bodies or even just scavenged portions thereof found on the field.............. yet nobody is working on this part or knows what to do. In Iran till now all the living cells in fresh Asiatic Cheetah dead bodies (found in the field) are destroyed which could have been saved till hours after the death of the animal itself for future cloning by freezing them in liquid nitrogen, what a waste. If their dead bodies are preserved in liquid nitrogen they can be cloned into several live Asiatic Cheetahs once the technology is more advanced if not immediately now. These cloned cheetahs will be free to pass on their genes back into the highly inbred, fragmented and dwindling living Asiatic Cheetah population in Iran. All the millions of years of evolution and instinct is packed in each of the living cell in the Asiatic Cheetah which remain alive for several days in the winter even after the Cheetah has unfortunately died on the field. There should be an urgent long-term program in the entire Asiatic Cheetah habitat in Iran and the whole neighboring region to urgently look for any fresh Asiatic Cheetah dead bodies or even scavenged small portions thereof and freeze them immediately in liquid nitrogen. There is a desperate need to even keep the cells alive of dead Asiatic Cheetah which could lead to several live ones in the long run.

This is also true for all other highly endangered species and scientist working in the field should be aware of this and routinely collect samples in liquid nitrogen. Not only human fertility specialist but animal husbandry industry has been using liquid nitrogen to freeze livestock sperm and egg samples for many years now. Farmers have not needed to keep bulls anymore from the last many years, their cattle is routinely fertilized by liquid nitrogen frozen sperm from a high breed bulls.

Recent breakthrough in cloning technology can also use live cells in animal tissue taken from a fresh dead body to produce live animals. Embryos could be implanted in relatively numerous sister species like leopards who could bear and rear the cubs as their own, and wild relatively more numerous African Cheetah surrogate mothers can even teach them how to hunt.

As far as the argument that cloning is much too expensive to invest in and funds could be better used for keeping the live ones living goes..... well no body is asking to divert the much needed funds for conservation of the living Asiatic Cheetah, the Indian Government has already invested heavily in the Asiatic Cheetah cloning project because it is a matter of national pride for them to see the Asiatic Cheetah re-introduced in India in the long run.

And it is a matter of extreme urgency to keep every Asiatic Cheetah cell alive even after the animal is found dead. Asiatic Cheetahs living in tiny populations in vastly fragmented habitat may not get an opportunity to meet and mate and may die before passing their genes in the living population. The dead bodies of these animals if located in time and preserved in liquid nitrogen could yield several hundred Asiatic Cheetah in the years to come when cloning science is surely going to be more commonplace.

Asiatic Cheetah will be shortly "collard" with tracking collars in a joint program of Iran with WCS, when and if any of these collard Asiatic Cheetahs die in the field in the Iranian desert the researchers tracking them will immediately know as they will stop moving, it has to be urgently communicated to all concerned that the dead bodies of these Asiatic Cheetahs have to be immediately reached, collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Enough liquid nitrogen and containers have to be kept all over the field possibly in the remote villages too where they are in close proximity of any randomly found dead Cheetah. Any Asiatic Cheetah dying because of collision with traffic moving on roads have to be picked up by citizens and transported to the nearest advertised Asiatic Cheetah freezing centre.

There should be a regular effort in mass media to preserve Iran’s living as well as dead Asiatic Cheetah, even the shepherd in remote villages should be made aware and be able to alert the researchers in time.

Radio and television programs apart from those in the print media, even the "road signs / boards" passing through Asiatic Cheetah habitat should advertise the needed facts.

Also it has to be noted here to make all the concerned officials and researchers aware that it is not only the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) at India which is working on freezing the sperm and tissue samples of endangered species in liquid nitrogen for possible future cloning projects but there are several other institutions around the world. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) now working on the conservation of Asiatic Cheetah with collaboration with the government of Iran has across the road from them on the other side of central park in Manhattan the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). The Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection (AMCC) department of AMNH has its own multimillion dollar facility doing exactly the same who might be very willing to contribute in the preservation of living cells from any dead Asiatic Cheetah bodies or scavenged portions there of collected from the field. The already existing multimillion dollar resources of institutions like the AMNH worldwide can be used to save highly endangered species from complete extinction.


The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), India:

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), India is a very important institution for the continued survival and breeding of Asiatic Lions, Asiatic Cheetahs and other Endangered Species, it has also invested in cloning and other reproduction technology techniques and it will be responsible to clone the "Asiatic Cheetah" with Iran's help to insure its continued survival: http://www.ccmb.res.in/newccmb/welcome.html;

Dr. Lalji Sing’s page and his Research-Group page, CCMB, who is also responsible for the "Asiatic Cheetah Cloning Project" of India and endangered species projects including that of "Asiatic Lion": http://www.ccmb.res.in/staff/lalji/research.html http://www.ccmb.res.in/staff/webres/laljiresgrp.html


Following is another example of an international institution doing much the same work. Researchers on the field in the wilderness as well as in zoos all over the world should send liquid nitrogen frozen dead bodies of endangered species to institutions such as these so that genetic samples can be permanently catalogued and frozen to conserve the planets biodiversity. These frozen samples will help our future generations to wake up from the dead highly endangered animals to enable them once again to breed their genes into the living remnant populations thus increasing the gene pool of a highly endangered species.


The Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection (AMCC) department of the American Meusem of Natural History (AMNH):

The mission of the Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection (AMCC) is to provide an accessible repository of frozen tissue specimens, collected and maintained under rigorously controlled conditions. In a time of massive species loss, such efforts are essential in order to preserve as comprehensive a record as possible of the earth's biodiversity.

The broad scope of the Monell Collection addresses an under-served niche within the cryogenic biorepository community by attempting to catalog all biodiversity at the molecular genetic level. The Monell Collection is further distinguished from other repositories because it exists within the framework of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), where tissue samples can be referenced with documented collecting events involving traditional voucher specimens and associated data. Here, modern bioinformatics initiatives will ultimately link collections with taxonomic determinations, bibliographic citations, geospatial referencing information, genetic data, digital images and photographs.

Link to the website of the Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection (AMCC) department of the American Meusem of Natural History (AMNH): http://research.amnh.org/amcc/objective.html;


Why Liquid Nitrogen?:

Currently, AMNH tissue collections (that are not centrally archived in the AMCC) are being stored at a range of temperatures and conditions, from -20º to -80º Celsius. Unfortunately, specimens held at -20º are subject to protein and lipid changes and damage from the growth of microorganisms while specimens held at -80º are also subject to protein and lipid changes, with extensive desiccation of specimens being observed upon light microscopic examination of frozen sections after only six months of storage . This degree of structural change may also induce some types of molecular change. We advocate a "colder is better" position on archiving tissues for future research. This is especially true if the long-term use of a resource is undefined. http://research.amnh.org/amcc/objective.html#ln2

News articles

August 16, 2006 : http://roguepundit.typepad.com/roguepundit/2006/08/hybridizing_wit.html

Mar 29, 2006: http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/29/stories/2006032917840200.htm http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/03/29/1517720.htm

March 28, 2006 : http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1661160,0004.htm

September 27, 2005: http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/sep272005/snt1432262005926.asp

9-18, 2005: http://www.ccmb.res.in/publications/newpub/paps/pap343.html

August Week 2 (2005): http://www.indianwildlifeclub.com/mainsite/press.asp?a=10

August 2005: http://202.54.119.101/interviews/drlalji.php

Jul 9, 2005: http://www.iranian.ws/cgi-bin/iran_news/exec/view.cgi/3/8133 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1165783.cms

August 20, 2004: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/19/1092889284000.html

August 18, 2004: http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1285454,00.html

Aug 07, 2004: http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/08/07/stories/2004080703261000.htm

April 26, 2004: http://www.ahmedabad.com/index/viewarticle/article/13862/section/14 http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/features/detailfeatures.php?id=533

February 7, 2003: http://www.iranian.com/Satire/2003/February/Cheetah/index.html

29 Jan 2003: http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/wildlife-india/2003-January/000183.html

May 20, 2002: http://www.dawn.com/2002/05/20/int12.htm

13 Nov 2000: http://www.elements.nb.ca/theme/endangeredspecies/cheetah/mediaarticle.htm

16 October, 2000: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/974858.stm

8 October, 2000: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/962159.stm

July 5, 1999: http://www.ccmb.res.in/hilites/rnd98-99/appliedfront-9899.html

Indian infrastructure and related links for cloning and links on endangered species conservation

Central zoo authority has a new brief Surojit Mahalanobis [ 29 Jul, 2005 2146hrs Isttimes News Network ] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1185971.cms

'Frozen' zoo to keep future of endangered species in safe custody Chetan Mallik [ 31 Oct, 2003 0258hrs Isttimes News Network] The endangered wildlife species can forget fears of extinction as the Central Zoo Authority has now got the permission from the centre for the ‘frozen’ zoo – a sperm and germ plasm bank – at Hyderabad. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-260007,curpg-1.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/260007.cms, see the zoo next to ccmb lab: http://www.hyderabadzoo.org/vet.htm

  • Updated Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA) mandate to breed endangered animals, and create a gene and sperm bank with the help of CCMB.

http://www.cza.nic.in/index.html

Central Zoo Authority Of India (CZA)

www.cza.nic.in http://www.cza.nic.in/index.html http://www.cza.nic.in/research1.html

  • CCMB India, “The Frozen Zoo”

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB)

CCMB India is a very important institution for the continued survival and breeding of Asiatic Lions, Asiatic Cheetahs and other Endangered Species, it has also invested in cloning and other reproduction technology techniques and it will be responsible to clone the "Asiatic Cheetah" with Iran's help to insure its continued survival: http://www.ccmb.res.in/newccmb/welcome.html

Dr. Lalji Sing’s page and his Research-Group page, CCMB, who is also responsible for the "Asiatic Cheetah Cloning Project" of India and endangered species projects including that of "Asiatic Lion": http://www.ccmb.res.in/staff/lalji/research.html http://www.ccmb.res.in/staff/webres/laljiresgrp.html

Publications of Dr. Lalji Sing’s Research group, CCMB which is also responsible for the "Asiatic cheetah Cloning Project" of India: http://www.ccmb.res.in/publications/newpub/grppub/laljisingh.html

Interview of Dr. Lalji Sing: http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/interviews/drlalji.php

CCMB & CCMB in news:

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Homepage: http://www.ccmb.res.in/newccmb/welcome.html

http://dbtindia.nic.in/r&d/bioenviron.html http://www.ccmb.res.in/ http://www.ccmb.res.in/jobs/resprojbio.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-260007,curpg-1.cms, see the zoo next to ccmb lab: http://www.hyderabadzoo.org/vet.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/19/1092889284000.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,12559,1285451,00.html http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol278/issue5339/r-samples.dtl#278/5339/807b

  • European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA)

http://www.eaza.net/ EEP-European Endangered Species Breeding Programmes http://www.eaza.net/EEP/3EEPtext.html

  • Species Survival Commission

http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/

SSC Specialist Groups http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/sgs.htm

IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group

Re-introduction NEWS Re-introduction Guidelines

IUCN Guidelines for the Placement of Confiscated Animals Re-introduction Practitioners Directory 1998

Taxon & Species Specific Re-introduction Guidelines RSG Resource CD v. 1.0 January 2003

http://www.iucnsscrsg.org/downloads.html

  • The American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)

http://www.aza.org/

Species Survival Plan® Program (SSP) http://www.aza.org/ConScience/ConScienceSSPFact/

Guidelines For Reintroduction of Animals Born or Held in Captivity Adopted by the AZA Board of Directors on June 3, 1992 http://www.aza.org/AboutAZA/reintroduction/

Studbook Fact Sheet http://www.aza.org/ConScience/ConScienceStudFact/ http://www.aza.org/prodev/PopMgtI/

  • World Conservation Monitoring Centre

http://www.unep-wcmc.org/

An appeal to governments, scientists & naturelovers

This Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) Page has been originally created by Atul Singh Nischal - atulsinghnischal@yahoo.com, I am a Life-member of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS): http://www.bnhs.org/ and a Life-subscriber of WWF-India: http://www.wwfindia.org/.

I am an "Asiatic Cheetah" and "Asiatic Lion" fan originally from India, naturelovers & wildlifers in my country and in Iran love both these species and we used to have plenty of them till a few hundred years back in both India and Iran. Today all the Asiatic Cheetah are extinct all over Asia and also extinct in India now, just the last 50 to 60 are said to be remain in Iran.

The same fate befell the "Asiatic Lion" all over Europe and Asia they were exterminated by man. Iran also lost them eventually in 1942. From the handful that survived in India in 1900 in a single forest, a population of about 300 odd has been conserved and built up. It is felt now that all the Asiatic Lion are cramped together in a single Indian forest of Gir which is hopelessly overpopulated and Lions have started to spill out to unprotected adjoining areas coming in regular conflict with man with many of them being killed/poisened regularly. Since all the Asiatic Lions of the world are cramped together in the Gir region of the Indian State of Gujarat and face complete extinction because of an epidemic or natural calamity that may strike, the Government of India has made arrangements to re-introduce some to Kuno-Palpur Sanctuary in the neghbouring State of Madhya Pradesh in India. Even though the Asiatic Lion is on the official seal of India and all Indians are proud of them, unfortunately the State Government of Gujarat and some people in Gujarat feel that Asiatic Lion are state property and are opposing the re-introduction of some wild Lions to Kuno-Palpur Sanctuary in the neighboring State of Madhya Pradesh in India. For the time being it looks like that Gujarat wants to keep its monopoly on tourism revenue generated by the Asiatic Lions.

Naturelovers sincerely hope that both "Asiatic Cheetah" and "Asiatic Lion" can be pulled away from the brink of extinction and eventually be re-introduced back to their original remaining habitats all over Asia. Maybe it may take a few centauries but presently Iran and India can co-operate on bringing the "Asiatic Cheetah" and "Asiatic Lion" back to their countries. Iran should help India in re-introducing the "Asiatic Cheetah", even though it may have to be through "Cloning" if needed, and India should help Iran to re-introduce the "Asiatic Lion" to their country.

Long live the "Asiatic Cheetah" and "Asiatic Lion" who had shared, shoulder to shoulder, much of the same habitat ranging from North Africa to India...........

Thank you


Atul Singh Nischal

Original author of this article on "Asiatic Cheetah": atulsinghnischal@yahoo.com; Life-member of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS): http://www.bnhs.org/; Life-subscriber of WWF-India: http://www.wwfindia.org/;

References and "Fair use" citation of copied text

Cited references

Conservation of the Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus venaticus in Iran (submitted by Peter Jackson and presented by John Seidensticker) http://www.csew.com/felidtag/pages/Reports/reports_nonattendees.htm

IUCN - The World Conservation Union: http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/jubssa1a.htm

CAT Specialist Group: http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/20_cat-website/home/index_en.htm

CAT website "Asiatic Cheetah Status Surveys": http://www.felidae.org/PROJECTS/Asiatic_Cheetah/asiatic_cheetah.htm

Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP), Government of Iran: http://cheetah.irandoe.org/asiatic/index.html http://cheetah.irandoe.org/habitats/index.html http://cheetah.irandoe.org/Call%20for%20CACP/index.htm http://cheetah.irandoe.org/about/index.html

"Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS)": http://www.iraniancheetah.org/main.htm

Book on Asiatic Cheetah in India: "The end of a trail, Cheetah in India", by Divyabhanusinh: http://www.felidae.org/PROJECTS/Asiatic_Cheetah/divyatitl/divyatitl.html

The Pros and Cons of Cloning (and other reproduction technology techniques) 2001 - 2005 sarah hartwell. messybeast.com cat resource archive: http://www.messybeast.com/clonecat.htm#cheetah

Studies of the Asiatic Cheetah in Iran: http://savingwildplaces.com/swp-home/swp-explorationandsurvey/239531

Census on Asiatic Cheetah Complete, Iran Daily: http://www.iran-daily.com/1383/2239/html/panorama.htm#51378

“Cheetah” Page From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah

The Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection (AMCC) department of the American Meusem of Natural History (AMNH): http://research.amnh.org/amcc/objective.html;

Conceiving a Future for Cheetahs, Smithsonian National Zoological Park: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/5/futureforcheetahs.cfm Cheetah Fact Sheet, Other Survival Challenges, CCF: http://www.cheetah.org/?nd=43

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Cheetah"

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asiatic_Cheetah&oldid=75407443


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Asiatic Cheetah

A detailed account of the critically endangered “Asiatic Cheetah”, what is being done for its conservation and the importance of modern technologies like cloning in wildlife conservation today.

Original Article written & submitted to Wikipedia

By Atul Singh Nischal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

may still be available on the website of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

at the following webaddress as the original has sice been edited to suite general interest readers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asiatic_Cheetah&oldid=75407443

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Please note anybody can write any article on Wikipedia and anybody can go on it and edite any article, hence my article has been edited since too to serve a general audience, but it may still be available on the Wikipedia website as an earlier version of the Asiatic Cheetah article, you can also find it by reaching the Asiatic Cheetah page on Wikipedia and pressing the "history" button on top of the page, please go to the latest edit by me, username "Atulsnischal" and "click on the date next to the latest entry of my name" if it is still archived it will comeup.

The original version that I wrote and submitted and the one I am posting in this blog is version number:

00:50, 13 September 2006 Atulsnischal; of the Asiatic Cheetah Article/Page on Wikipedia:

The steps needed to reach the original article I submitted on wikipedia if it is still available:

3 - The latest version I wrote mentioned above:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asiatic_Cheetah&oldid=75407443

2 - Reach the "History" page to the Asiatic Cheetah article by clicking the "History" button on the top of the page of the current version online, look for my version above:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asiatic_Cheetah&action=history

1- The Asiatic Cheetah main page originally I created but edited since, current version edited from myne to suite general interest readers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Cheetah

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