Iran (IMNA) - "The morphology, physical condition, activity patterns and mobility of the cheetahs transferred to Touran National Park are satisfactory and the possibility of natural reproductive activity is expected by cheetahs' transferred to their homeland," Kalantari noted.
Referring to 6 months passed away since the transfer of cheetahs from Tehran's Pardisan Park to Touran Wildlife Refuge in eastern Semnan, he continued, "Since the relocation, 20 new cheetahs have been observed around."
"The establishment of a Cheetah's Breeding and Research Center, the departure of livestock from Touran National Park, wildlife fencing and speed reduction on the Shahroud-Sabzevar road axis are among the important and valuable measures to the reproduction of Asiatic cheetahs in this region; Iran's Department of Environment is also accelerating the procedures to complete the project as quickly as possible," he added.
"Providing water supplies for wildlife and cheetahs is the most important concern in this regards, and it is expected that by the end of this year, plans will be implemented to meet the basic needs of the Asitic cheetah population in Touran Wildlife Refuge," Iran's Department of Environment (DOE) chief said.
"We should try to bounce back this valuable species from the brink of extinction by providing and completing the infrastructure in Touran and support the possibility of breeding the Asian cheetahs in this area, naturally or artificially," Issa Kalantari ended.
According to IRNA, cheetahs are an endangered species and now only a few of them live in Iran and Africa. Turan or Khar Turan region is one of the three protected areas of Iran with an area of one million and 470 thousand hectares, is the habitat of the Iranian cheetah, which is located in the east of Semnan province.
The Asiatic cheetah is one of the world's most critically endangered big cats. Tan color, specked with characteristic black spots and weighing up to 143 pounds. Asiatic cheetahs are almost identical in appearance to their better known African cousins. However, there are subtle differences. Asiatic cheetahs are slightly more slender and have slightly longer legs. Moreover, because of the nature of these physical differences some have speculated that Asiatic cheetahs might actually be the faster than their African cousins. That said, as recently as 2009 it was argued that the Asiatic Cheetah was genetically identical to the African Cheetah. However, testing has since found that the two species are genetically distinct.
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