PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTH- EASTERN

ANNUAL REPORT 2015 FEBRUARY 2016

WWW.WILDCRU.ORG Table of Content

Introduction 1

Project Sites 2

Human-dimension 3

Science and Monitoring 6

Law enforcement and protection 12

Media and Outreach 13

Scientific publications 15

Who we are? 16

Thank You! 17

Partners in 2015 18 © A.Moudi

Introduction

We just finished 2015, a year full of excitement, challenges and populations. We are also investigating how local communities’ achievement within land of the Persian leopard in northeastern interact with the reserves. We are promoting their involvement with Iran. Our project is now more established in the region within its some sites by enhancing their knowledge and developing their three pilot sites, namely as Tandoureh, Salouk and Sarigol National capacity for conservation practice. Collaborative monitoring and the Parks, all well-known to host the leopards for decades. sharing of research findings are part of this process. The project’s diverse components are aimed at ensuring the long-term survival Since 2006 the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) has led efforts to of the Persian leopard within multiple reserves in north-eastern Iran. understand the ecology of Persian Leopards in the region. This The present document outlines activities undertaken during 2015. work shaped the basis for the present project which was estab- lished in mid-2013 in the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conserva- The project’s achievements are indebted to its dedicated team as tion Research Unit (WildCRU). Its goal is to conserve the endan- well as volunteers who were devotedly involved in different stages gered Persian leopard within multiple reserves in northeastern of the project. We finished our 2015 with a great excitement, cap- Iran, by producing both cutting-edge science and the expertise turing an adult female Persian leopard and fitting it with satellite and training which is necessary for effective conservation. GPS collar in Tandoureh National Park. Seen a few days after capturing, we named the leopard ‘Iran’, hopefully to give birth in We are exploring some hitherto unknown aspects of its ecology 2016 and to give us tremendous opportunities to learn about the such as ranging behavior. We are particularly interested in under- secretive life of the Persian leopards in high elevations. standing the value of parks and their boundaries in protecting the

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 1 Project Sites

At the eastern extreme of the Irano-Anatolian Biodiversity Hotspot, climate. Potential ungulate prey in the leopard diet includes urial the Kopet Dagh and Aladagh Mountains in northeastern Iran host sheep, Persian ibex, and Eurasian wild pig. These areas also a number of montane reserves, including Tandoureh, Salouk and supports diverse range of carnivores, including gray , striped Sarigol (E57°15’ to E59°15’, N36° 20’ to N37°20’). hyena, wild cat, and Pallas’ cat.

Located in two provinces of North Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi, Livestock grazing is not permitted within National Parks. Nonethe- they cover almost 1,395 km2 of mountainous landscapes with less, a number of livestock nomadic pastoralists’ herds are permit- altitude range of 1000 to over 3000 meter a.s.l., and with enormous ted to graze the adjacent protected area (in Tandoureh, Sarigol cliffs and deep valleys. Generally, the mean annual precipita- and Salouk) during summer (May-August) each year. Moreover, tion and temperature are between 200 to 300 mm and ca. 15oC, local people residents living in surrounding villages keep domestic respectively leading to the development of a temperate semi-arid , mainly sheep and goat.

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 2 Human-dimension

People and Persian leopards:patterns of interaction and implication for conservation

More than 70% of herders living in 25 villages around three national parks in northeastern Iran have been investigated and results are analyzed. They were interviewed on a seasonal basis to develop a comprehensive dataset to explore seasonal patterns and accurate number of loss due to different causes, including predators. Per- sian leopard and grey wolf are two focal species; however, striped hyena and were also among reported predators, especially in Tandoureh.

Preliminary findings show that people suffer more from than the leopards, so they lose on average 1 domestic sheep to the leopards whereas their loss to the wolves exceeds 5 animals per year. As a result, not-surprisingly, they have more negative attitude toward the wolves, but not to the leopards. Now, we are exploring which parameters shape people attitude for further actions. Unlike many high conflict zones in west and central Asia, conflict with the leopard is not high among surveyed communities. However, there is a remarkable proportion of livestock annually lost due to a variety of disease, mostly unknown to the people.

We also learned that there is a remarkable gap of knowledge among communities about the leopards; many people perceive the leopards animals in high density with short breeding interval and large litter sizes. We plan to fill the gap by providing informa- tion for communities through our upcoming outreach programs.

In order to raise awareness among local people, the project has developed a leopard wall calendar for 2016 which will be freely available to local people in all villages living around three national parks. We are now raising necessary funds through a crowdfunding scheme on facebook to publish the calendar.

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 3 Domestic animals health control

Iran is facing an emerging threat to the wildlife; prevalence of Initially, our concern was shared with Iran Veterinary Organization infectious diseases. In 2015, several Iranian reserves have been (IVO) and Department of Environment (DoE), both at local level to adversely affected by a number of diseases, particularly PPR, an discuss how dangerous outbreak of these diseases can be and infectious cause of mass mortality among ungulates, especially how we can predict. ibex. For example, in western Iran, some reserves lost up-to 75% of their known ibex population during a course of few months. There was an ongoing program for vaccination against PPR imple- mented by IVO which had two main drawbacks: 1) it was focused Our local interview surveys for the past two years also showed on lambs whereas adults are grazing around the reserves remain some uncovered reports of infectious and contagious diseases, un-vaccinated; 2) vaccination will be done wherever an outbreak among local livestock which can be reservoir for their wildlife occur, again not very useful for the wildlife because it can be very counterparts. We learned that local vets have diagnosed PPR and late. FMD (foot-and-mouth disease), both lethal to the wildlife. Also, the project vet suspected that some local dogs are affected by CDV Accordingly, it was decided to change the plan in favour of the wild (Canine Distemper Virus), another infectious disease which can ungulates, so those villages located around Tandoureh National affect larger cats, especially in northeastern Iran where dogs are Park have to be vaccinated thoroughly. In September and Octo- part of the leopards’ diet. ber 2015, the plan was implemented, more than 52,000 heads of livestock received vaccination against PPR, including all vil- Accordingly, the project team developed a new objective to target lages located at boundary of Tandoureh National Park. The plan disease control in communities near Tandoureh National Park. expenses were completely afforded by IVO.

Meeting with local DoE and IVO managers (© S.Firouzi)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 4 Checking health status of local sheep in Tandoureh (© P.Behnoud) Taking blood sample from local herd dogs in Tandoureh (© P.Behnoud)

As the next step, we are assessing prevalence of infectious dis- and treatment of infectious and contagious diseases among local eases among local livestock and herd dogs existing around the livestock which could be problematic for wildlife species; National Park. Led by the project vet, we are visiting local herds of livestock to check common diseases and visited houses are 2.Organizing training courses for local shepherds to enable them advised on prevention and treatment. Furthermore, blood samples for better prevention and diagnosis of important diseases common are taken from some 15% of each village’s dogs, particularly those among local stock; belonging to families grazing their animals adjacent to the National Park. In 2016, a veterinary student will carry out lab experiments 3.Establishing health check and disease control programs (twice/ in Faculty of Veterinary in University of Tehran to uncover occur- year) for local livestock in spring and fall. rences of several diseases, including CDV, rabies, and parvovirus. The project initially was not developed to address disease control As the next step, we will address the following objectives: in Tandoureh National Park and necessary funds are not in place to run this component; therefore, a priority in upcoming year is to 1.Training local vets for qualified prevention, diagnosis, reporting raise necessary resources in order to pursue this objective.

Kahou, a village near Tandoureh NP’s mountains where people occasionally encounter the leopards (©M.Farhadinia)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 5 Science and Monitoring

More leopards fitted with Iridium GPS collars in Northeastern Iran

Leopards spatial ecology using collars have been studied for Park Beekse Bergen and finally we captured and collared a new nearly half century, but the Persian leopards are probably one of leopard, namely Kaveh which provided a sample of 4 collared the few subspecies which still we do not know about their ranging male leopards for our study. We continued our capturing efforts and movement patterns in west Asian rugged mountains with in September 2015, but no leopard was captured. Finally, weeks lower prey density. Their remote habitat and cryptic nature make before the end of year, we captured an adult female Persian them inherently difficult to study and past attempts have provided leopard which was named Iran. insufficient information upon which to base effective conservation. In order to address the paucity of basic ecological information on These leopards are monitored carefully using data transmitted leopards within mountainous ranges and to explore their spatial by their GPS collars through satellite on a daily basis which will patterns, the present investigation has been launched in Tandoureh enable us to explore feeding ecology, habitat requirements and National Park, near border in northeastern Iran. energetic demands of these animals in a region without previous information. In fall 2014, we successfully captured and fitted two adult male Persian leopards, named Borna and Bardia using snare traps. As expected, both leopards collared in 2014 lost their collar after We re-launched our capturing operations in February 2015 when one year of sending invaluable information to us. Drop-off mecha- Borzou, an old male leopard was captured and fitted with satellite nism, an automated function was triggered exactly after one year collar. In summer 2015, we organized another capturing opera- to release the collars from the animals without need to re-capture tion jointly with a Dutch vet Dr Jacques Kaandorp from Safari them.

Bardia’s collar was released when he was feeding on a 7 years old ibex in October 2015 (© S.Firouzi)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 6 Borzou, 3rd collared leopard in mid-February 2015 in Tandoureh NP, NE Iran (© B.Jalali)

Majority of previous collaring studies implemented on Asian leop- continue our effort to capture the last leopard to have a total number ards have had between 1 and 4 collar data per site and our team of six collared individuals for the first comprehensive study on the has been successful to exceed the Asian mean to obtain more Persian leopards in Iran. fine-scale information with more individual leopards collared. We

Kaveh, 4th collared leopard in Tandoureh NP, NE Iran (©E.Shoaie)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 7 Kaveh, 4th leopard trapped safely and anesthetized in Tandoureh (©K.Hobeali)

Iran, 5th leopard (female) fitted with GPS collar (© A.Moody)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 8 Passing international borders by the collared leopard

October 5, 2015, one of the four male Persian leopards GPS-col- trans-boundary cooperation and conservation initiatives between lared in northeastern Iran, crossed the Iran-Turkmenistan border. these two countries. The research team has been trying to contact “Borzou”, an old male of over 10-years-old, has been continuously Turkmen authorities to ensure Borzou’s safe journey inside the monitored since February 22nd 2015, when he was captured in country. This is not the first time that Borzou has left his territory in Tandoureh National Park. Borzou has been roaming outside the Tandoureh National Park. About two months ago in August he left national park since September 26th, and has walked about 20 the reserve and spent 23 days in the surrounding villages, where kilometers through several villages and developed areas to reach it killed several domestic dogs and one ewe. the Turkmenistan border. Our research team has been closely working with local wildlife authorities during this period to minimize the risk of human-leopard conflict. There has been no claim by local people of livestock loss or attacks on humans by leopards during this period. Interestingly, Borzou remained unspotted within this human-dominated landscape before crossing the border into the Turkmenistan’s Mountains. Borzou’s successful dispersal to Turkmenistan is the first verifiable record of leopard Iran-Turkmenistan borderland where Borzou roams regularly, each movements between Iran and Turkmenistan, stressing the need for yellow dot denotes to a GPS location retrieved by the satellite collar.

Ungulate surveys to monitor prey population

Continuous monitoring to obtain detailed knowledge of prey-pred- In Early 2015, we finished a seasonal prey assessment program ator dynamics is critical in wildlife management, particularly for across three project sites. The program aimed to understand vari- small and isolated populations. In addition, given the leopard ous demographic parameters of the species across three national population relies mainly on a single prey species (urial) in various parks, i.e. Sarigol, Salouk and Tandoureh. Some studies have reserves in NE Iran, continued monitoring of the ungulate popu- shown that the predators can affect the prey population growth lation dynamics is necessary. Therefore, I partnership with Iran through removing the kid cohort, so we need to know more than DoE, we conducted prey survey in mid-fall 2015 to understand total population sizes of the prey. population size of urial sheep and Persian ibex, two main prey items for the leopards across three project sites.

A herd of urial rams, a main prey for Persian leopard in northeatsern Iran (© K.Hobeali)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 9 How many leopards live in NE Iran?

Northeastern Iran hosts a number of well-known reserves for the is peak of activity by the leopards. However, it faces the project leopards where hosts a fair number of visitors every year. Many crew in danger of working in difficult circumstances of high eleva- visitors are encountering the leopards in the wild here. Thus, a tions during cold months. We deployed a total of 40 digital camera centralized database has been developed to collect all available traps in two national parks, Salouk and Sarigol since mid-October images of leopards taken by tourists and local wardens. 2015 to be functional until end of December. Tandoureh, our third site will be investigated in 2016. Understanding population size of elusive predators is a key chal- lenge against many conservation organizations which is more Each leopard has individually unique marked pattern, which will difficult for rare carnivores, because of their rarity as well as lack enable us to diagnose individuals and count them. So far, we of basic ecological information to calibrate any conservation and have been able to detect 21 different leopards, including three monitoring program. Presently, several hundreds of Persian leop- leopard moms across both landscapes. The achieved leopard ards are supposed to exist in west Asia, but reliable population population is much larger than what was perceived by rangers data is still lacking. Therefore, we developed a new phase of the working in these areas for long time. Besides obtaining invaluable project, to use camera traps which are triggered when animals ecological information about a less-studied predator, i.e. Persian pass by, for exploring population size and composition of these leopard, our findings raise a hope that reserves in the region may rare predators. and can harbour larger populations of the leopards than what is considered now. The camera trapping investigation was done in cold season which

Camera traps are normally deployed along trails or ridgelines where the leopards normally use to walk (© P.Behnoud)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 10 Predation patterns of Persian leopards in northeastern Iran

As collared leopards are now roaming their home range, GPS 50 with kills made by the leopards. Our data show heavy predation clusters are used to find their prey remains. In 2015, we managed pressure on males of two species, Persian ibex and urial sheep to visit some 130 cluster locations across the national park, some in northeastern Iran.

All collected fecal samples are analyzed in Zoology Lab in Iran Department of Environment (© M.Farhadinia)

During 2014, we collected a few hundreds of fecal samples to using fecal analysis, joined the project to share her expertise for understand dietary pattern of the leopards across the three sites. illuminating dietary characteristics of the leopards in northeastern Elmira Sharbafi, a recently graduated master student in Biodiversity Iran. Iran Department of Environment lab kindly hosts our work. In Management who finished her thesis on leopard food habits in Iran 2015, more than 250 fecal samples have been analyzed.

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 11 Law enforcement and protection

In fall 2016, we launched a camera trapping program in project traps and GPS. Nearly all rangers learned proper deployment and sites to understand population status of the leopards. Besides checking of camera traps for the leopards as well as marking and pursuing scientific objectives, it was a great opportunity to train findings points using GPS. local rangers for application of some devices, including camera

Local rangers were trained on application of GPS (© M.Farhadinia)

In 2015, we developed a motivational plan to for rangers to improve their performance in anti-poaching. Accordingly, after receiving proper training in using camera traps for monitoring the leopards, the project team invited each reserve to nominate 10 top leopard images in an online platform, so thousands of online visitors can vote for top three leopard images from each reserve. Outstand- ing rangers who took those images will receive a prize plus an acknowledgment letter signed by their boss which is essential to increase their monthly salary. As a result, rangers’ patrolling is expected to increase across the reserves to find proper camera trap locations and to check their cameras regularly. Furthermore, the upcoming competition between rangers from different reserves can also be a way to raise public awareness about important work they do to protect the leopards.

Also, we covered basic costs to fix rangers’ motorbike in Tandoureh National Park which is critical for their daily anti-poaching activities. Working in harsh landscapes needs careful and regular fixation of motorbikes and vehicles which we try to raise more funds to support the reserve’s functionality.

Local ranger’s motorbike fixing expenses afforded by the project for improved patrolling (© M.Farhadinia)

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 12 Media and Outreach

We had a busy year with media, various coverages by different agencies in Iran as well as abroad.

Magazines

In spring 2015, we had two amazing reports published in two Ira- nian popular magazines, one named “Searching for the leopards” in Sarzamin-e-Man, occasionally known as Iranian National Geographic. Then, we had a more detailed report in Danestaniha magazine.

In June 2015, governmental main newspaper “Iran” featured our project comprehensively, trying to answer wide range of questions about the leopard ecology and how this project can shed light on our drawback of knowledge. Furthermore, the project activities have been featured at various stages by different newspapers and news agencies.

Parallel to domestic media coverages, Emirates Natural History Group which is based in Abu Dhabi, the UAE published a com- plete report in English about the collaring project in their magazine “Focus”.

Clips and shows

In November 2015, two 15 minutes episodes about our project September. Both episodes received strong positive feedbacks was aired on some Dutch and Belgian TV channels, which was from people. You can watch the film here. produced by Arthur Marres’ crew during their visit to Iran in last In order to raise public awareness, we are also producing a doc- umentary, produced and directed by an award winning team from Wildlife Picture Institute who ranked as the most outstanding nature production crew in Iran with a variety of national and international awards, including several for the award-winning film “In Search for Persian Leopard” in 2011. Produced by Fatholla Amiri, the film crew, particularly Nima Asgari as the director accompanies the project team to film all events as the project goes on.

Also, the project team produced a short photo clip showing activities done by the project to capture and collar three Persian leopards in harsh landscapes of northeastern Iran’s mountains. It was shared on the project facebook page, which was seen by thousands. The clip can be watched here.

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 13 Talks and presentations

In March 2015, project PI introduced our efforts in two evening Finally, in November 2015, based on an invitation by the Iran talks to fans and members of Emirates Natural History Group in DoE, the project results and progress was presented to some 15 Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain during a visit to the UAE. governmental experts which can be useful for them in order to shape future decisions for leopard management in Iran. The project PI presented latest findings to local rangers and volun- teers in Tandoureh National Park in November 2015. Attended by some 30 people, preliminary results from collared leopards were shared with rangers and experts.

(© K.Hobeali) (© K.Hobeali)

Follow Us on Facebook

In order to share findings and activities of the project, we created Updated regularly with project activities, the facebook page is a facebook page in October 2014, named as “My Journey with expected to act as a media for data sharing and public awareness Persian Leopards” featuring project activities for public audience. about the leopards and their landscapes among Persian speaking The network has been growing rapidly, exceeding 4700 likes by people. The facebook activities have been featured by mass media the end of 2015 with more than 9000 people reaching the posts. on several occasions in Iran.

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 14 Scientific publications

2015 was a productive year for us due to publishing a few papers in peer-reviewed journals. Totally, three papers have been published on Persian leopards as well as several more on other carnivores in Iran, including Eurasian lynx, Asiatic cheetah, Afghan’s fox and Syrian brown . In addition to above mentioned published papers, a paper on dietary analysis of Persian leopard in is also accepted for publication in 2016.

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 15 Who we are?

Project Team

Mohammad Farhadinia Kaveh Hobeali Peyman Moghadas Pouyan Behnoud (Project PI) (Project coordinator) (Field assistant) (Graphic designer)

Iman Memarian Alireza Shahrdari Elmira Sharbafi Nima Asgari (Project vet) (Vet assistant) (Lab investigator) (Film crew director)

Fathollah Amiri Kambiz Baradarani (Film crew producer) (Database manager)

Project volunteers

Arash Moudy Mohammadali Rezvani Asghar Bayat Atieh Taktehrani

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 16 Thank You!

We sincerely thank Iranian Department of Environment for admin- many individual donors supported our project to raise necessary istrative support and provision of necessary permissions. Special fund for buying ELISA kits as well as publishing a wall calendar thanks go to DoE offices in Mashad, Esfarayen, Dargaz and for 2016. We are greatly indebted to them all. Bojnurd. Special thanks go to Professor David Macdonald, Dr Paul Johnson There are various organizations and individuals who make this and Dr Luke Hunter for their technical assistance and support to project possible. Panthera kindly provided 6 GPS collars and the project. Furthermore, MSF is grateful to Dr Dawn Burnham and digital camera traps. The UK People’s Trust for Endangered Spe- Lynne Larkman in WildCRU and Toni Wheeler, Ruth Jackson and cies (PTES) fired the project engine for the past 3 years through David Grain in Oxford’s Department of Zoology’s financial office for affording running expenses. Rufford Foundation enabled us deal their help and support with administrative issues. Mehran Azarbad more with community-based surveys and conservation. IdeaWild afforded graphic design and layout development for this report. granted us basic equipment, such as GPS, range finder, binocular and trap transmitters for field work. Association Francaise des Finally, we feel a privilege to express my frank sympathy and Parcs Zoologiques also supported our collaring efforts in Tan- respect to local experts and game wardens as local partners doureh. The British Institute of Persian Studies and Lady Margarett of this project due to their kindly cooperation in field surveys, Hall’Academic Development Fund for supporting a few airfares Z.Salahshour, S.Firouzi, A.Daneshvar, B.Jalali, E.Shoaie, H.Mo- for the project PI. The US Columbus Zoo granted us resources to hebbi, R.Tajdari, Gh.Safdari, G.Pishghadam, Y.Mesbahi, J.Ghor- carry out camera trapping project for months in NE Iran. Safari Park bani, A.Davari, E.Amini, H.Amini, H.Nourani, H.Fakhrani, S.Grivani, Beekse Bergen sent us its experienced vet Dr Jacques Kaandorp A.Faraji, K.Shaker, V.Alizadeh, R.Foroughzadeh, S.Alizadeh, to help project team in Iran and donated proper drugs for safe M.Shahmoradi, M.Ahmadi, A.Salahzadeh, J.Alizadeh, R.Rastegar, anesthetizing several leopards. Emirates Natural History Group A.Hosseini, B.Moradian, M.Zahmati and V.Mohammadi for their hosted the PI to the UAE for presenting the project findings. Also, invaluable assisstance in field activities.

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 17 Partners in 2015

Tehran Eram Zoo

Donors in 2015

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 18 Individual donors

Soudabeh Majidi Mohammad Sehhati

H.Shokati (Huttell Company) M.Moradkhani

Mohammad Goudarzi A.Mokhtarzadeh

Vaheed Nezhadali Reza Fazeli

Mehdi Gharasoo Hossein Ghasemi

Behfar Ardehali Babak Aslikhah

Ashkan Rezvani Naraghi Siavash Nasiri

Said Shokati Kianoush Farhadinezhad

Farnaz Heidari Amir Hossein Doroudian

Masoud Samadzadeh Kaveh Nerazzuri

Rouzbeh Behrouz Marzieh Mousavi

Shahin Madhoush Mina Taraghi

Zienab Dastjerdi & Mohammad Rafati Siavash Shahriar

Zahra Rafati Hooman Puladrakeh

Nazanin Sahami Roya Ghana’at

Goudarz Eghtedari Sima Oveysimehr

Esmaeil Bagherian Mahdieh Ghadiri

Arash Tabatabaie Hossein Heidari

Masoud Samadzadeh

PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTHEASTERN IRAN - ANNUAL REPORT 2015 19 DESIGNED BY: MEHRAN AZARBAD MEHRANAZARBAD.COM