252: collaboration to save Asiatic cheetah

A great story from Iran today, as reported in Middle East Online. Apparently, the Iranians are collaborating with US conservationists and the Zoological Society of London in an attempt to save the rare Asiatic cheetah from extinction. It is thought that just 60 to 100 of the cheetahs survive in the wild and they are only found in Iran. As a result, a UN-backed campaign was launched to protect them, which brought the Iranians, Americans and Brits together. This - as the article points out - in spite of the fact that political tensions are high between Iran and the US in particular, including on the issue of nuclear proliferation. But such disagreements have been pushed to one side to enable this project to continue – and with some success, as the cheetah population seems to have stabilized. It’s good to see what’s possible when pragmatism is put before politics. (Beautiful photo from Middle East Online.)