TEHRAN – A leopard, spotted several times in Sorkheh Hesar National Park, east of Tehran, has been brought back to its natural habitat.

For three weeks, expert teams including veterinarians, and environmentalists have been monitoring the area to anesthetize and catch the leopard alive, and finally, they succeeded to return the animal to its habitat in the natural areas of the province.

The Persian leopards are listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List; the population is estimated at fewer than 500 mature individuals and is considered declining.

Persian leopard range spans 11 countries of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were part of the range but they are now considered extinct there.

Almost 80 percent of these leopards are found in Iran, followed by Turkmenistan. 

FB/MG