The only survivor of three Asiatic cheetah cubs born in captivity was in hospital Monday, leaving Iranians fearing for the life of the endangered animal.
Named Pirouz, the cub was moved to hospital on Saturday and had become a source of national pride since its birth in May last year at a wildlife refuge in the country’s northeast.
Two other cubs born with him died that same month, but Pirouz survived at a time when only a dozen members of the species were left in the wild.
The number of Asiatic cheetahs -– Acinonyx jubatus venaticus — is threatened with “dangerous ongoing decline,” according to data cited by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
According to a 2017 study referenced by IUCN, the sub-species is confined only to Iran where there were “less than 50 mature individuals.”
“We were informed on Thursday that Pirouz is not in good condition”, Tasnim news agency quoted Dr Omid Moradi, head of the Central Veterinary Hospital, as saying.
Investigation revealed the cheetah cub “is suffering from an acute kidney failure,” he said.
In the latest video posted by the hospital on Instagram, Moradi said Pirouz’s condition is not stable and “far from good.”
The animal’s condition led to an outpouring of emotion by Iranian netizens.
“Pirouz is the only happiness of the nation,” wrote one Twitter user, calling on people to pray for the cub.
Others expressed fears for the species’ extinction.
The world’s fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of 120 kilometres (74 miles) per hour, cheetahs once stalked habitats from the eastern reaches of India to the Atlantic coast of Senegal and beyond.
They are still found in parts of southern Africa but have practically disappeared from North Africa and Asia.
Iran began a United Nations-supported cheetah protection programme in 2001.
In January 2022, deputy environment minister Hassan Akbari said Iran was home to only a dozen Asiatic cheetahs — down from an estimated 100 in 2010.
Iran’s environment department hoped the cubs’ birth would help increase the cheetah population.
