  Why is it important?  Decades of habitat disturbances and
degradation has resulted in the imminent extinction of several
endemic flora and fauna species in Iran, including the flagship
specie, the Asiatic cheetah - Acinonyx jubatus venaticus.
Following a trend set by the extirpation of the Asiatic lion and
the Caspian tiger, the Asiatic cheetah has continuously been
declining in numbers over the past decades. The Asiatic cheetah
which used to be widespread across the Indian subcontinent and
Central and South-West Asia is one of the only remaining species
of large cats in Iran.  The accelerating pace of the Asiatic
cheetah’s extinction can be put down to multiple sources such as
environmental changes, lack of availability to pray and
increasing human encroachment on its habitat. Consequently its
current range has been reduced to tiny pockets within the arid
regions of central Iran. Realizing the acute need to conserve
the Asiatic cheetah, the first phase of this project, which was
implemented between 2001 a