In December 2023, three staff members from the Iranian Cheetah Society crowded around a laptop, moved to tears by the sight of a mother cheetah and her four cubs, caught on a camera trap. Population estimates for the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) vary, but experts say fewer than 30 may remain. Once found throughout Central and Southwest Asia, as far east as India, today the Asiatic cheetah is found only in Iran, where conservation of the species has been hampered by complex geopolitical dynamics. Cheetah conservationists finally freed In January 2018, Iran arrested nine conservationists from the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF) and charged them with spying for states hostile to Iran. They were sentenced in 2019. The decision was upheld in 2020, amid allegations of flaws in the judicial process, including reports of torture and forced confessions. Last month, the final four Iranian scientists and conservationists linked to the PWHF walked free from Tehran’s Evin Prison, pardoned after serving six years and three months apiece. Researchers Houman Jowkar, Sepideh Kashani, Taher Ghadirian and Niloufar Bayani were released on April 8 and 9. The organization’s co-founder, Morad Tahbaz, who also holds U.K. and U.S. citizenship, was released late last year as part of prisoner swap and sanctions waiver deal with the U.S., tied to the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian oil funds, earmarked for humanitarian purposes. Three other PWHF-affiliated conservationists, Sam Rajabi, Amir-Hossein Khaleghi and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, were released between 2020 and 2023. However, the PWHF…This article was originally published on Mongabay
The post Final cheetah conservationists freed in Iran, but the big cat’s outlook remains grim first appeared on EnviroLink Network.