The director of Iran’s environment agency announced Sunday that an Asiatic cheetah gave birth to three “healthy” pups, a first in captivity for the endangered species.
“Iran,” one of just a dozen cheetahs discovered in the Islamic republic, gave birth to three “healthy” cubs by C-section, according to Ali Salajegheh of the IRNA news agency.
“This is the first Asiatic cheetah born in captivity,” he remarked.
“By conserving these cubs, we will be able to grow the cheetah population in captivity and eventually in semi-captivity,” Salajegheh explained.
Cheetahs, the world’s fastest land mammal capable of reaching speeds of 120 kilometers (74 miles per hour), previously stalked ecosystems from eastern India to Senegal’s Atlantic coast and beyond.
They can still be found in portions of southern Africa, but have all but vanished from North Africa and Asia.
Iran is one of the remaining locations in the world where Asiatic cheetahs may be found in the wild, and a United Nations-backed conservation campaign was launched in 2001.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the subspecies “Acinonyx jubatus venaticus,” also known as the Asiatic cheetah, is severely endangered.
According to Hassan Akbari, deputy environment minister, Iran has only a dozen Asiatic cheetahs, down from an estimated 100 in 2010.
Their position was described as “very severe” at the time, with the animals being victims of drought, hunters, and traffic accidents.