The Asiatic cheetah, the world’s most endangered big cat, faces an increasingly precarious future as ongoing conflict in Iran disrupts critical conservation efforts, reports Mongabay contributor Kayleigh Long.
Once ranging from the Arabian Peninsula to India, the cheetah subspecies (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is now confined to just 16% of its former territory, with fewer than 30 individuals estimated to remain in the wild in Iran.
Before the war began in February 2026, conservationists observed a rare sign of hope: a female cheetah named Helia was filmed in North Khorasan province with five cubs, the largest litter ever recorded for the subspecies. Bagher Nezami, national director of the Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project, told Iranian media that these were “ID-carded” individuals being monitored by researchers.
However, access to protected areas for nongovernmental groups has now “slowed down considerably,” interrupting long-term monitoring and camera trapping, a local conservationist told Mongabay, speaking on condition of anonymity. There are also fears that conservation vehicles could be misidentified as military targets in the remote desert landscapes where the cheetahs live.
Sarah Durant, a research scientist at the Zoological Society of London, emphasized the protection of field scientists, park rangers, and Indigenous peoples during armed conflict is “a matter of urgent international concern.”
Beyond the direct impact of combat, Western sanctions on Iran have also taken a toll. “Critical activities such as monitoring, law enforcement and the development of wildlife-friendly infrastructure have declined,” the authors of a 2025 study wrote. “These limitations have contributed to a decrease in prey availability and an increase in direct cheetah mortality, particularly from road accidents.”
Road accidents account for more than half of recorded cheetah deaths in Iran, including the devastating 2023 death of a pregnant female that was hit and killed on a road in Semnan province. Reduced patrolling due to the war may further increase risks from poaching and habitat disturbance.
Import restrictions have also limited or prevented access to high-quality conservation tech and satellite or SIM-enabled devices that can help track and identify individual cats. The use of camera traps brought controversy in 2018, when nine conservationists from the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation were arrested and accused of espionage.
The current U.S.-Israeli war on Iran will likely mean a reduction in resources dedicated to conservation, said Jamshid Parchizadeh from Michigan State University, U.S., who has worked as a wildlife biologist in Iran. He said he’s doubtful the Iranian government would have funds for wildlife once post-war reconstruction on infrastructure becomes the primary focus.
“Before the war, cheetah conservation received limited funding from the government,” Parchizadeh said. “But after the war, I doubt that the government has any money left for the conservation of the cheetah.”
Read the full story by Kayleigh Long here.
Banner image: The Asiatic cheetah is the world’s most endangered big cat, with about 27 remaining in the wild in Iran. Image by Ehsan Kamali / Tasnim News Agency via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
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