Tracking Iran's Last Asiatic Cheetahs

Registered since 2001, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) is a Tehran-based non-profit that has worked alongside Iran's Department of Environment for over two decades to monitor and protect the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah, a subspecies that now survives only in Iran. Its Asiatic Cheetah Population Monitoring programme uses camera-trap arrays and a network of rangers across reserves including Touran National Park and Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, alongside education and 'Explorers of Hope' community outreach projects. A joint ICS-Department of Environment report covering 2021-2023 documented 208 camera traps deployed across four habitat areas, which captured roughly 355,000 wildlife images, of which 797 were confirmed sightings of Asiatic cheetahs used to individually identify surviving cats. ICS's tracking has helped confirm cheetah breeding successes, including litters of cubs recorded as recently as early 2026, even as the population is estimated at fewer than 30 individuals.