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Decreasing genetic diversity, gene flow rates and population connectivity can increase inbreeding rates and extinction risks. Asiatic cheetah is a critically endangered mammal with large home range that suffered from extreme range reduction and population decline. Their population is now fragmented into two subpopulations. We used genetic markers to estimate genetic diversity, relatedness, minimum effective population size and gene flow, and to assess population structure. Putative corridors connecting subpopulations were inferred using connectivity models based on topography, land cover and human footprints resistance variables. Individual pairwise genetic relatedness was compared with resistance values obtained from these models and with Euclidean distances between samples to assess the most important factors shaping the current genetic structure. The estimated effective population size was extremely low (Ne = 11 to 17). Both Northern and Southern Subpopulations exhibited low genetic diversity and high relatedness. Several signatures of gene flow and movement of individuals between subpopulations were observed suggesting that inferred corridors potentially connecting subpopulations are functional. However, no traces of gene flow were observed for the latest generations, maybe due to a decrease of functional connectivity in recent years. The resistance model including all variables was best related to genetic relatedness, whereas population differentiation is mostly driven by isolation by distance. The very low estimated effective population size, decreased genetic diversity, and high relatedness of Asiatic cheetah suggests that population reinforcement, removing obstacles to connectivity and boosting prey population conservation in stepping stones are urgently needed to prevent the imminent extinction of iconic biodiversity.

Knowledge on diet composition allows defining well-targeted conservation measures of large carnivores. Little is known about ecology of critically endangered Asiatic cheetah, especially the overall diet and its possible regional differences. We used cheetah scats, metabarcoding technique and microsatellite markers to assess the individual and overall diet composition of the species across its entire range in Asia. Cheetahs were primarily predating on mouflon; following by ibex, cape hare and goitered gazelle. Despite their high availability, small-sized livestock was never detected. Goitered gazelles were only detected in an area where the habitat is mainly flatlands. In hilly areas, mouflon was the most frequent prey item taken. Ibex was typically taken in rugged terrain, but mouflon was still the most frequently consumed item in these habitats. High consumption of mouflon in comparison to goitered gazelle suggests that human pressure on lowland habitats has possibly forced Asiatic cheetahs to occupy suboptimal habitats where gazelles are less abundant. The protection of flatlands and the removal of livestock from them are needed to ensure the long-term survival of Asiatic cheetah. The laboratory and bioinformatics pipelines used in this study are replicable and can be used to address similar questions in other threatened carnivores.

Illegal hunting of ungulates can reduce the prey base of carnivores, which can increase human–carnivore conflict (HCC) through livestock depredation. However, the relationship between ungulate poaching, wild prey abundance and livestock depredation has rarely been empirically studied. We surveyed 18 sites across the Hyrcanian forest in northern Iran; a global biodiversity hotspot under pressure from illegal hunting of ungulates, prey depletion, livestock grazing and HCC. We conducted three field surveys across 1,204 km in 93 4 × 4 km cells to count signs of ungulate poaching as well as encounters with livestock and prey species of the Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor and the grey wolf Canis lupus. We documented sheep/goat and cattle depredation from interviews with 201 herders and analysed the effects of illegal hunting of ungulates, forest cover, IUCN categories of reserves, elevation, distance to villages, and wild prey and livestock encounter rates on carnivore depredation rates using generalized linear models. Illegal hunting of ungulates was the most influential depredation predictor. An increase in the illegal hunting of ungulates by one sign/km significantly increased depredation by up to four times. We also found significantly lower levels of ungulate poaching in national parks (IUCN category II) compared to protected areas (V), wildlife refuges (IV) and no‐hunting areas, though poaching signs were frequently found in most cells (58%). Encounters with livestock was inversely linked to wild prey species, but positively coupled with signs of ungulate poaching. Synthesis and applications. Our study reveals that: (a) an increase in the intensity of illegal hunting of ungulates can intensify livestock depredation by carnivores; (b) future efforts in reducing human‐carnivore conflict to acceptable levels require a combination of law enforcement, prey recovery approaches and mitigation measures; (c) it is essential to understand the root causes of poaching to help minimize human‐carnivore conflict (HCC).

Protected areas are the most important tool to safeguard large mammals from overexploitation, but their effectiveness is insufficiently studied in temperate ecosystems. The Hyrcanian forest is one of the oldest and most threatened temperate forests globally. Anthropogenic activities are widespread and negatively affect wildlife species in the Hyrcanian forest. We conducted surveys in ~ 22% of the Hyrcanian forest by walking 1204 km in 93 16-km2 cells distributed randomly in 18 protected and non-protected study sites. We used Bayesian occupancy modeling to measure the effects of livestock grazing, logging and poaching on distribution of six large mammal species. Our results explicitly show that grazing had negative and significant impact on the occupancy of very patchily distributed Persian leopard (β = − 1.65, Credibility Interval − 2.85 to − 0.65), Caspian red deer (β = − 1.36, CI − 2.34 to − 0.45) and roe deer (β = − 1.61, CI − 2.96 to − 0.58) while logging did so for red deer (β = − 0.82, CI − 1.69 to − 0.03). Poaching could not be determined due to low detectability of poaching signs. Grazing intensity was high in protected areas (IUCN category V), no-hunting and non-protected areas and much lower in national parks (II) and wildlife refuges (IV). Representing 66% of total reserves in the Hyrcanian forest, category V protected areas urgently require priority actions in assessment of grazing capacities, allocation and enforcement of grazing quotas, and better coordination between governmental conservation and natural resource management organizations to avoid further depletion of the large mammal community in the Hyrcanian forest.

We opportunistically collected and analyzed 80 scats of the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) from den entrances and other areas at 2 sites within Hormozgan Province, Iran, from March 2010 to February 2011. We identified 27 food items dominated by cultivated date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) fruit, oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis), and Christ's thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) fruit with frequency of occurrence 55.0%, 30.0%, and 20.0%; and percentage volume 75.0%, 55.8%, and 86.7%, respectively. Our study highlights the potential importance of human-related foods to Asiatic black bear diets. Our findings may help conservation managers to identify areas of notable potential conflict for Asiatic black bears and implement conflict-reducing measures such as installing better protective fences for reducing horticulture loss.

A phylogenetic tree was reconstructed based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene nucleotide sequences of 169 individuals of house shrews (Suncus murinus and S. montanus) from 44 localities in East Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and islands in the western Indian Ocean. Shrews from China (Zhejiang), Japan (Okinawa), Vietnam, and Indonesia (Java) formed a monophyletic group with less genetic variation. Therefore, the shrews of these regions appeared to have originated from one or a few localities. Contrary to this, shrews from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Pakistan consisted of several haplogroups. This finding suggests immigration movements to these areas. Fascinating findings were also obtained concerning the islands in the western Indian Ocean. First, shrews on Zanzibar Island (Tanzania) had almost the same haplotype as those in southwestern Iran. Therefore, the house shrew in Zanzibar may have immigrated from Iran (or vice versa). Second, shrews from Madagascar and Grande Comore Island shared the same haplotype, whereas the shrews on Reunion Island were clearly different from those of Madagascar and Comoros. Thus, there appears to have been several immigration routes to the islands of the western Indian Ocean.

A total of 52 individuals of Acomys dimidiatus were collected in Bushehr Province, Minab and Geno Biosphere Reserve in Hormozgan Province, Iran for the first time during the summer of 2003 and 2005. ANOVA results revealed significant differences in all characters of these rodents between the study sites, with the exception of the length of diastema and that of anterior palatine foramen. The Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that Khaeez and Jam samples (Boushehr) belonged to separate groups These samples were similar in cranial width. Minab samples had a positive association with occipitonasal, condylobasal, zygomatic and mandible lengths. Some of Geno samples were similar to Minab samples, but others differed because of the negative relationship with such characters as occipitonasal, condylobasal, zygomatic and mandible lengths. The comparison of cranial characteristics revealed the importance of occipitonasal and condylobasal lengths in distinguishing between the populations. Our results suggest ...

We describe the use of camera-trapping with capture-recapture, occupancy and visitation rate modelling to study the size, demographic structure and distribution of the Persian leopardPanthera pardus saxicolorin Bamu National Park, southern Iran. A total sampling effort of 1,012 trap-nights yielded photo-captures of four adults, two subadult individuals and a cub over 21 sampling occasions. The leopard population size estimated by the M(h) model and jackknife estimator was 6.00 ± SE 0.24 individuals. This gives a density of 1.87 ± SE 0.07 leopards per 100 km2. Detection probability was constant and low and, as a result, estimated occupancy rate was significantly higher than that predicted from photographic capture sites alone. Occupancy was 56% of the protected area and visitation rates were 0.01–0.05 visits per day. The most imminent threats to leopards in Bamu are poaching and habitat fragmentation.

(2008). Territorial marking by the Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor Pocock, 1927) in Bamu National Park, Iran. Zoology in the Middle East: Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 101-103.