National congress on wildlife diseases, conservation to be held

TEHRAN – Tehran will play host to the first national congress on wildlife diseases and conservation which will be held in the Iranian calendar month of Azar (November 22- December 21), Mehr reported on Wednesday.

By Jamshid Parchizadeh

The most important threats to brown bear populations in Iran

Iran is a vast country with an area of 1,623,779 km2 in which there are 164 mammal species including the Asiatic black bear and brown bear. Human-bear conflict is the main reason for the brown bear number reduction and range collapse in this country. In this short article, I summarize the most important threats to brown bear populations in Iran:

By S. K. Basu and P. Zandi

Need for insect pollinator conservation to secure future of global agriculture forestry, apiculture industries, food security

Insect pollinators (honeybees, native bees, moths and butterflies, some species of beetles and flies) helping in the natural (biological cross pollination of crops around the globe are showing an alarming sign of population decline.

Leopard in snare escaped certain death, released back to wild

TEHRAN — A leopard caught in snare, in northern city of Galugah in Mazandaran province, was safely released and went back to wild with no lasting harms, Tasnim news agency reported.

By Farnaz Heidari

White-headed ducks victims of steep decline

White-headed duck has endured high levels of habitat loss in Iran. Long-term population declines have intensified as a result of wetlands' changes and also droughts. Iran's dying wetlands were once breeding habitats of white-headed ducks and now are vulnerable to drainage, pollution, and other disturbances.

By Farnaz Heidari

What choices do we have for saving Asiatic cheetahs?

There are recent reports on the successful cheetah translocations from South Africa to Liwonde National Park in Malawi led by African Parks.

By Farnaz Heidari

Threat poachers are posing to leopards

Poaching is a controversial term and the issue remains complicated. Scientists, environmentalists and most of animal lovers are concerned with poaching effects on different wildlife populations. But in a country such as Iran, the big challenge of conservation is linked with reliable data especially in the case of poaching.  

Penned by Farnaz Heidari

A legacy of agricultural poisons

The potentially lethal impact of DDT on wildlife and especially birds of prey was first noted in the late 1950s. And now we know, spraying to control pests can head to poisoning of the environment and living creatures just like humans.

by Farnaz Heidari

Detailed action plan prerequisite for conservation of lynxes in Iran

Lynx is the animal that conservationists have distinguished as an indication of an intact environment. Now, some groups of dedicated conservationists are working to save the wild populations in natural ecosystems.

By Farnaz Heidari

Dimming the light of sharks' life

Sharks are hunters par excellence. They frequent a wide range of habitats. Most of sharks are magnificently designed. Multiple rows of replaceable triangular teeth, and also a battery of receptors that almost defy human comprehension, considered as the best tools for a precedent apex predator.

By Farnaz Heidari

Vague, imprecise ecosystem, wildlife management approaches in Iran

In the early 1800s, bird expert Alexander Wilson watched a single migrating flock of passenger pigeons darken the sky for over 4 hours. He estimated that this flock was more than 2 billion birds strong, some 386 kilometers long, and 1.6 kilometers wide.

Roudsar leopard dies in fight with hedgehog

TEHRAN — Persian leopard Arezoo, well-known for being named after her habitat in Roudsar, northern Iran, was found dead apparently after a fight with a hedgehog.

By Farnaz Heidari

Zoos seen as saviors of endangered animals

Zoos can effectively work together to conserve some of the endangered animals. Zoos have the necessary knowledge and experience in animal care, veterinary medicine, animal behavior, reproductive biology, and genetics to establish captive animal populations of endangered animals.

By Farnaz Heidari

International Cheetah Day: Let’s save the fastest beauties

Asiatic Cheetah which is considered to be a sleek and beautiful cat throughout history is the fastest land-animal that can accelerate from 0 to 96.6 km/h in under three seconds.

By Farnaz Heidari

Pivotal concerns about feral and free roaming dogs

Our susceptible wildlife is closing in on the extinction by human-wildlife conflicts. The resultant negative of human interference on wild animals and their habitats is widespread. Now dogs are often the most abundant terrestrial carnivore as Julie Young and her colleagues told the Bio-Science in 2011.

By Farnaz Heidari

Digging deep into human-carnivore conflicts in Iran

Human-carnivore conflicts is rapidly increasing in Iran. For instance just recently a young boy who was tending his sheep was attacked by a black bear on July 10, 2017 on the outskirts of a village in Jiroft, southeastern province of Kerman.

By Farnaz Heidari

Precious wildlife heritage in Tehran

Koushki and Delbar considered are as the only two Asiatic Cheetahs in captivity all around the world. After facility outfit, Kushki had been transferred from Touran National Park, Semnan Province, and Delbar from Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, North Khorasan Province, to Asiatic Cheetah Research and Husbandry Headquarter in late 2014.