Human Stupidity endangers Wildlife

Two very different stories on BBC News.

Earlier this month Iranians, all over the world, were mourning the tragic loss of Pirouz the Cheetah. There are only 12 wild Asiatic Cheetahs left in the wild and all of them live in Iran.

Pirouz (Victory) was born to Iran and her male partner, Firouz (Victorious in old Persian) in Touran (the northwest of country). He tragically passed away at the age of 5 months (Rest in Peace dear One) along with his two litter mates (they had been rejected at birth by their mother).

This was a sad story but what now gives it a rather fresh positive twist is that India is celebrating the birth of four cheetah cubs:

Asian cheetahs became extinct 70 years ago, but the Indian government released eight of the animals from Namibia last year in a project to reintroduce the big cats. Another 12 were brought to to the country from South Africa last month.

Finally a little tidbit on why two neighbours can’t seem to find an agreement:

In the 1970s, India's Department of Environment formally wrote to the Iranian government to request Asiatic cheetahs in use for reintroduction and apparently received a positive response. The talks were stalled after the Shah of Iran was deposed in the Iranian Revolution, and the negotiations never progressed.^[66] In August 2009, Jairam Ramesh, the then-Minister of Environment, rekindled the talks with Iran for sharing a few of their animals. Iran had always been hesitant to commit to the idea, given the very low numbers present in the country.^[67] It is said that Iran wanted an Asiatic lion in exchange for a cheetah, and that India was not willing to export any of its lions.^[68] The plan to source cheetahs from Iran was eventually dropped in 2010.^[65]

It’s says alot about the current state of the world that neighbouring countries can’t actually cooperate with each other to be able to best preserve and protect their wildlife populations.

I’ll leave you with a few maps about the ranges of the Asiatic Cheetah and Lion:

And finally:

But not to end on a negative note; I’ll share this worthwhile Twitter thread: