The Iranian Cheetah Society, a nonprofit conservation group that provides data on the population to the Iranian government, confirmed to Newsweek that it has evidence of only 12 cheetahs remaining in the wild in the last two years.
CEO of the Iranian Cheetah Society, Morteza Pourmirzai, said one of the main problems for Iran’s cheetah population continues to be roads running through their habitats.
He told Newsweek: “There are lots of roads in the habitats. In some particular areas they are completely extinct because of the roads. And because they live in the desert, there are lots of mines as well as camels and other livestock. The livestock can sometimes attack cheetah cubs and camels are in competition with the cheetah’s for water and food.”
The society, which sets up camera traps to monitor the population, added that along with the 12 cheetahs left in the wild, there are three other Asiatic cheetahs kept in captivity.
Asiatic cheetahs were once found widely across Asia, but due to hunting and habitat loss, the population has plummeted. The subspecies can now only be found in Iran and is considered to be critically endangered.