PROJECT PERSIAN LEOPARD IN NORTH- EASTERN IRAN 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 wolf, 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 animals, 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 Eurasian lynx were also among reported predators, especially in Tandoureh. Preliminary findings show that people suffer more from wolves 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.