Pirouz, who was ten months old, was the last surviving cub from a litter of three individuals.
“I apologize on behalf of my entire team because we failed to save his life,” said Omid Moradi, director of one of Tehran’s animal hospitals, to the state-linked Iranian news agency Tasnim.
Pirouz and his two siblings were the first Asiatic cheetahs to be born in captivity in Iran, and their births were closely monitored by the country’s environmental authority.
Iran has long tried to save the severely endangered species and it receives continuous support from the UN for its efforts.
The Asiatic cheetah, which is a cousin of the equally fast African feline, once existed in a vast area from the Red Sea to India. But nowadays the species leads a waning existence. In the 1990s there were around 400 individuals in Iran – today it is only 50-70 as a result of, among other things, poaching, lack of gazelles and encroachment on its natural range.
Pirouz, who was ten months old, was the last surviving cub from a litter of three individuals. Image provided by Iran’s state news agency Isna. Archive image.