The Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) originally ranged from the Arabian Peninsula to the Indian subcontinent but is now restricted to Iran's central plateau. Asiatic Cheetahs are highly endangered, with just 12 remaining in the wild.
The magnificent cat has gotten little recognition outside of Iran. That is why it was such saddening news when authorities announced that the last Asiatic cub died on Tuesday, February 28, despite days of therapy for renal disease.
A female Asiatic Cheetah named 'Dalbar' snarls in an enclosure at the Pardisan Park in Tehran on October 10, 2017.
Rare Triplet Asiatic Cheetah Cubs Were Born
In December 2017, conservationists rescued an 8-month-old female Asiatic cheetah in a house in Iran that was believed to be caught by wildlife traffickers planning to smuggle her, according to a 2018 report by Cambridge University Press.
Given the status of the population of its species, conservationists began introducing her to a male Asiatic cheetah in 2021, which they captured at Turan National Park to make with her in captivity.
Iranian Cheetah Society said that the two ultimately mated on January 24, 2022, and continued to mate a total of 17 times in the days that followed. Dr. Ali Selajgeh, chief of Iran's Department of Environment, said in a statement that since the female cheetah demonstrated her ability to give birth, it is likely that she will remain fertile for the next five years.
She gave birth to three Asiatic cheetah cubs at the Asian Cheetah Breeding Center of the Turan Biosphere Reserve in Tehran in Iran, marking the first in history that the species reproduced in captivity.
The Asiatic cheetah cubs were delivered via Cesarean section, and the babies were then taken to intensive care, CNN reported. The cheetah pups were initially thought to be all female, but additional investigation revealed they were all male.
Dr. Behrang Ekrami, a veterinarian at the center, said that one of the cubs, unfortunately, died on May 4 due to malformations in the left lung and lung adhesion. The second cub died just two weeks after its birth.
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The Last Cub Dies
Pirouz, the 10-month-old Asiatic cheetah, was admitted to the Central Veterinary Hospital due to kidney failure last Thursday, February 23, and died after undergoing dialysis. According to Phys.org, the cub's name is derived from the Persian word "victorious" since it is the last of the three cubs left.
Hospital director Omid Moradi said in a statement that the Pirouz's loss and ineffectiveness of all efforts to treat the cub in the past few days greatly saddens the team. Pirouz's existence gave them hope when only a dozen members of the endangered species were left in the wild.
The data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature showed that the Asiatic cheetah is threatened by the dangerous ongoing decline in their population. Today, they can be found in some parts of southern Africa, although they have disappeared from North Africa and Asia.
Conservationists began a United Nations-supported cheetah protection program in 2001 to preserve the species' population. But in 2022, there are now only 12 Asiatic cheetahs in the wild compared to an estimated 100 in 2010.
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