TEHRAN — The Asiatic cheetah cub which had been injured on August 7 in a car crash on Abbasabad-Mayami road, north-central Semnan province, has lost life despite the efforts of the veterinary team at the Department of Environment, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

The one-and-a-half-year cheetah cub was transferred to Tehran and undergone surgery but the damage to spinal cord was so severe that has affected its body functions, the report added.

After the surgery, the animal has been kept in rehabilitation center of Tehran Pardisan park.

One of the highest casualty rates in the country occurs on the Abbasabad-Mayami road. Road crashes [the ones recorded by the Department of Environment] accounts for 52 percent of the cheetah’s fatality rate.

“Fencing Abbasabad road in Semnan province, which was started since last week and is currently underway, is hoped to decrease a considerable percentage of such valuable species deaths due to road accidents,” deputy head of Department of Environment for biodiversity and wildlife affairs, Majid Kharrazian Moqaddam said on Tuesday.

The Asiatic cheetah has been listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since 1996. Based on the sightings the number of remaining Asiatic cheetahs in Iran can be estimated at almost 50.

FB/MQ/MG