Rare Cheetahs Get Big-Cat Bling

A male cheetah held securely but gently in a ‘soft-catch’ foot-hold snare, in preparation for GPS-collaring. ©WCS/DoE-CACP/ZSL/UNDP

Two Asiatic cheetahs received newfangled necklaces from an international team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) working in Iran. The big cat “bling”—also known as Global Positioning System (GPS) collars—will track the movements of the cheetahs as they travel between protected areas. The information will reveal key features of the highly endangered cats’ habitat that are critical to their survival. These cheetahs are the first of their kind to be handled and collared by scientists in Iran.

Iran’s Department of Environment (DoE) estimates the population to be between 60 and 100 animals, making the Asiatic cheetah one of the most imperiled cats on Earth. Once ranging from the Red Sea to India, the cats now live only in extremely arid habitat on the edges of Iran’s Kavir Desert. The two males collared were captured in the Bafgh Protected Area of Yazd Province. Scientists fitted the cats with compact GPS collars weighing 350 grams (only 1 percent of the cheetahs’ weight) and released them back into their habitat.

The project represents a unique new phase of WCS’s long-term involvement in Iran. “This is an amazing milestone in securing the long-term future for the Asiatic cheetah,” said WCS biologist Dr. Luke Hunter, who led the international team. “We know very little about the ecological needs of the species in Iran except that the cats require vast areas for their survival. Understanding their movements as they travel between reserves is one of the first steps in establishing a plan to secure and connect the few remaining populations of this incredible animal.”
 
Widespread poaching of Asiatic cheetahs and their prey during the early years of the 1979 revolution, together with habitat degradation from livestock grazing, has pushed this predator to the brink of extinction. Historically, cheetahs have played a significant role in Iranian culture; in ancient times, emperors trained them to hunt gazelles.

Support for the WCS project comes from the Iranian DoE, the United Nations Development Programme, the Zoological Society of London, and the Felidae Conservation Fund. WCS has been cooperating with the DoE’s Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project since 2001. The joint venture will try to collar another four cheetahs this winter, before the desert heat becomes prohibitive.

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