Iranian Cheetah

The Persian Cheetah or Iranian Cheetah (Persian: یوزایرانی) is a mammal, belonging to the order of Carnivora and suborder of Feliformia. There are two types of cheetahs on Earth, one Asiatic and the other African. The Iranian Cheetah is an Asiatic species and once lived in the geographical region of ​​Syria, Saudi Arabia, India, and Turkmenistan. But today, except in Iran, in other parts of Asia, this species has become extinct. Therefore, the Asiatic Cheetah is also called Iranian Cheetah.

The habitat of Iranian Cheetah is some regions in Iran which has desert and semi-arid climates. Its most prominent habitat is in the Dasht-e Kavir, including parts of some provinces such as Kerman, Khorasan, Semnan, Yazd, Tehran, and Isfahan. Specifically, Kavir National Park and Khartouran National Wildlife Sanctuary in Semnan province, Naybandan Wildlife Sanctuary in Tabas, Bafgh protected area, and Anjir valley (no hunting zone) in Yazd province.

Iranian cheetah has long and slender arms and legs. Their breasts are large, and they have a small head and neck and a short, round snout. Iranian cheetah has pale yellow color to fawn-colored with white and round spots on it. A black band extends from the corner of its eyes to his mouth, known as the tear line. This line has the function of absorbing sunlight and acts like sunglasses in the deserts.

The cheetah's body makes it one of the most famous and fastest predators in nature. They can run at a speed of 110 kilometers per hour. The speed of the cheetah reaches 75 kilometers per hour two seconds after running. Its acceleration is faster than many racing cars in the world.

One of the behavioral characteristics of the cheetah is that the female cheetah lives alone, but when she is caring for her cubs. The male cheetahs live with their male siblings or other males. Each cub lives with its mother for 18 months and separates from its mother after learning how to hunt and protect itself. The gestation period of Iranian cheetahs is 95 days, and the cubs are initially gray. Thanks to their habitat, this color keeps the cubs out of the reach of other predators. The food of Iranian cheetahs is gazelle, mouflon, mouton, goat, cape hare, and chinkara. Unlike other feliformia that hunt in the daytime, they often start their hunting at sunrise or sunset.

The Asian cheetah is one of the high risks of extinction feliformia and is on the World Red List. These days, for more than three decades, Iran is his last refuge in the world.