Supplemental Material for Review

The Critically Endangered Asiatic Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus venaticus in Iran: A Review of Recent Distribution, and Conservation Status

Table 1: Intensive camera trapping efforts in cheetah reserves in Iran (2001-2012)

Nucleus Name / Reserve / Year / Sampling Period / Total Camera Days (24 hrs) / No. Trap Stations / Total No. Independent Cheetah Photographs / No of Identified Cheetah(s) / M* / F* / U* / Citation
Southern / Dareh Anjir
2004 / August-September / 1223 / 38 / 4 / 4 (2F, 1C, 1U) / 0 / 2 / 2 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2010 / August to October / 1470 / 35 / 24 / 5 (3M, 2U) / 3 / 0 / 2 / Mousavi et al. 2010
2011-2012 / December-March / 1756 / 26 / 40 / 1(1M) / 1 / 0 / 0 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Bafq
2004 / January-February / 1073 / 31 / 22 / 3 (3U) / 0 / 0 / 3 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2011-2012 / December-March / 2439 / 42 / 5 / 1 (1U) / 0 / 0 / 1 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Ariz
2011-2012 / December-March / 792 / 10 / 24 / 4 (3M, 1F) / 3 / 1 / 0 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Siahkouh
2011-2012 / December-March / 1051 / 23 / 3 / 1 (1F) / 0 / 1 / 0 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Abbas Abad
2012 / May-July / 1889 / 48 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Naybandan
2002 / August-October / 1674 / 30 / 5 / 1 (1M) / 1 / 0 / 0 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2004 / May-June / 1465 / 56 / 12 / 6 (2M, 2F, 2C) / 2 / 2 / 2 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2004 / July-August / 1309 / 47 / 4 / 5 (1M, 1F, 3U) / 1 / 1 / 3 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2005 / August-September / 1287 / 43 / 6 / 2 (2M) / 2 / 0 / 0 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2006 / March-April / 924 / 23 / 2 / 2 (1M, 1F) / 1 / 1 / 0 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2006 / August-November / 2447 / 30 / 6 / 3 (1M,2F) / 1 / 2 / 0 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2007 / January-April / 1683 / 43 / 7 / 5 (1M, 1F, 2C, 1U) / 1 / 1 / 3 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2009 / Fall / N/A / N/A / 9 / 3 (1M, 2U) / 1 / 0 / 2 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2012-2013 / November-February / 2662 / 48 / 19 / 2 (1M, 1U) / 1 / 0 / 1 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Darband
2012-2013 / November-March / 3293 / 22 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Northern / Miandasht
2007 / September-December / 1268 / 18 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / Farhadinia et al. 2008b
2008 / May-July / 385 / 11 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / Farhadinia et al. 2008b
2012 / June-October / 2429 / 43 / 13 / 4 (2F, 2M) / 2 / 2 / 0 / Eslami et al. Unpublished
Takhti Iran
2007-2008 / December-March / 850 / 10 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / Farhadinia et al. 2008b
Touran
2003 / July-August / 1310 / 48 / 2 / 2 (1M, 1U) / 1 / 0 / 1 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2003 / August-September / 838 / 30 / 1 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 1 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2012-2013 / 8958 / 110 / 56 / 4 (3M, 1F) / 3 / 1 / 0 / Ashayeri et al. 2013
Kavir / Kavir
2003 / May-June / 763 / 25 / 1 / 1 (1U) / 0 / 0 / 1 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2005 / August-September / 1256 / 36 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / Jourabchian & Farhadinia 2008
2009-2010 / October-March / 3333 / 56 / 18 / 1 / 1 / 0 / 0 / Ghadirian et al. 2010
Total / 49827 / 283 / 25 / 14 / 22
Total number of cheetah individuals after excluding same-individual recaptures / 17 / 10 / 22

* M: male, F: female, U: unknown

Table 2: Characteristics of confirmed cheetah areas in Iran (based on hard evidence or approved track)

No. / Reserve name and category / Province / Area (km2) / Year officially protected / Wild ungulate prey species / Sympatric large carnivores / Year cheetah presence confirmed
1 / Naybandan Wildlife Refuge / South Khorasan / 15169 / 2001 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard (the latter two predators rarely) / 1987
2 / Bafq Protected Area / Yazd / 885 / 1996 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Persian leopard and rarely grey wolf / 1994
3 / Kavir National Park and Protected Area / Semnan / 6911 / 1967 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard / 1994
4 / Touran Biosphere Reserve / Semnan / 14414 / 1972 / Persian ibex, wild sheep, Persian gazelle and chinkara / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard / 1996
5 / Ariz No Hunting Area / Yazd / 1313 / 1999 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Rarely Persian leopard / 1997
6 / Kamki Bahabad No Hunting Area / Yazd / 650 / 2011 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard / 2001
7 / Dareh Anjir Wildlife Refuge / Yazd / 1753 / 2002 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Rarely striped hyena / 1995
8 / Miandasht Wildlife Refuge / North Khorasan / 844 / 1975 / Persian gazelle and wild sheep (rarely) / Striped hyena and grey wolf / 2003
9 / Kalmand Protected Area / Yazd / 2291 / 1990 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and Persian gazelle / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard / 2005
10 / Takhti Iran No Hunting Area** / North Khorasan / 230 / 2006 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and Persian gazelle / Grey wolf, Persian leopard and rarely striped hyena / 2007
11 / Ranfsanjan Country** / Kerman / NA / Still not protected / NA / Striped hyena and grey wolf / 2007
12 / Chah Shirin No Hunting Area** / Semnan / Striped hyena and grey wolf / 2007
13 / Darband Wildlife Refuge / Kerman / 13640 / 2010 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard / 2008
14 / Siahkouh National Park and Protected Area / Yazd / 2057 / 2001 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Grey wolf / 2010
15 / Abbas Abad Wildlife Refuge / Esfahan / 3050 / 2009 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and chinkara / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard (the latter needs to be confirmed) / 2010
16 / Khosh Yeilagh Wildlife Refuge / Semnan / 1500 / 1965 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and Persian gazelle / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard / 2011
17 / Boshrouyeh*** / South Khorasan / NA / Not protected / NA / NA / 2011
18 / Dorouneh Protected Area* / Razavi Khorasan / 750 / 2007 / Persian ibex, wild sheep and gazelle (all in extremely low density) / Striped hyena, grey wolf and Persian leopard / 1980
Total / 65370

* It is connected to Dasht-e-Laghari Wildlife Refuge (established in 2012 with an area of 24,000 hectares where cheetahs are occasionally reported)

** The cheetah’s existence was confirmed based on fresh pugmarks. There is a reserve nearby, but cheetah sign was detected outside the reserve.

*** A cheetah was confirmed to be poached; there is no protected area.

Table 3: Opportunistic, targeted camera trapping efforts in cheetah reserves in Iran (2001-2012). Here, only successful attempts (i.e. at least one cheetah image captured) are presented.

Nucleus Name / Reserve / Year / Season/Month / Total No. Independent Cheetah Photographs / No of Identified Cheetah(s) / M / F / U
Southern / Abbas Abad
2010 / November / 1 / 1 (1U) / 0 / 0 / 1
Dareh Anjir
2002 / Summer/Fall / 4 / 4 (1M, 1F, 2U) / 1 / 1 / 2
2003 / Year round / 1 / 2 (2U) / 0 / 0 / 2
2004 / N/A / 2 / 3 (1F, 1C, 1U) / 0 / 1 / 2
2006 / June / 1 / 5 (1F, 4C) / 0 / 1 / 4
2007 / N/A / 5 / N/A / NA / NA / NA
2008 / N/A / 4 / N/A / NA / NA / NA
2009 / September/November / 3 / 1 (1F) / 0 / 1 / 0
2011 / September / 1 / 4 (3M, 1F) / 3 / 1 / 0
2012 / Year round / 3 / 3(3M) / 3 / 0 / 0
Siahkouh
2010 / June / 1 / 4 (1F, 3C) / 0 / 1 / 3
2011 / February / 1 / 2 (1M, 1F) / 1 / 1 / 0
Bafq
2006 / June / 2 / 2 (1M, 1F) / 1 / 1 / 0
2009 / November / 1 / 1 (1U) / 0 / 0 / 1
Ariz
2011 / November / 1 / 1 (1M) / 1 / 0 / 0
2012 / Year round / 5 / 3(3M) / 3 / 0 / 0
Naybandan
2001 / Fall / 2 / 1 (1M) / 1 / 0 / 0
2011-2012** / Year round / 7 / 3(1M, 2U) / 1 / 0 / 2
Northern / Miandasht
2004 / September-December / 2 / 2 (1U) / 0 / 0 / 2
2011 / November / 2 / 1(1F) / 0 / 1 / 0
Kavir / Kavir*
2010 / Year round / NA / 1 (1M) / 1 / 0 / 0
2011 / Year round / NA / 1 (1M) / 1 / 0 / 0
2012 / Year round / NA / 1 (1M) / 1 / 0 / 0
Total / 49 / 43 / 15 / 9 / 19
Total number of cheetah individuals after excluding same-individual recaptures / 8 / 5 / 14

* Ongoing extensive camera trapping has been implemented by multiple organizations and results were not centrally stored. Accordingly, we failed to provide number of cheetah images/captures. However, spot comparisons indicated that they all captured the same individual repeatedly.

** Between March 2011 and November 2012, National Geographic deployed a few camera traps in multiple locations in Naybandan the results of which are included here.