page_title: Persian leopard
section_title: Iran
hierarchical_section_title: Persian leopard / Distribution and habitat / Iran
caption_attribution_description: English: A body of a leopard that was found near Zom village, Hawraman Mountain, Kurdistan, Iran in 2019
context_page_description: The Persian leopard, also known as the Caucasian leopard is a leopard population in the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The Persian leopard was previously considered a distinct subspecies, Panthera pardus saxicolor or Panthera pardus ciscaucasica, but is now assigned to the subspecies Panthera pardus tulliana, which also includes the Anatolian leopard in Turkey. The Persian leopard is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the population is estimated at fewer than 871–1,290 mature individuals and considered declining.
  A phylogenetic analysis suggests that the Persian leopard matrilineally belongs to a monophyletic group that diverged from African and Arabian leopards in the second half of the Pleistocene.
context_section_description: In Iran, leopards were recorded in 74 of 204 protected areas. They are more abundant in the northern than in the southern part of the country. The Hyrcanian forests located in the north and along the Alborz mountain chain are considered as one of the most important habitats for leopards in the country. Their habitat comprises climates with temperatures ranging from −23 °C (−9 °F) to 49 °C (120 °F), but most leopards were recorded in habitats with temperatures of 13 to 18 °C (55 to 64 °F), maximum 20 days of ice cover per year and rainfall of more than 200 mm (7.9 in) per year. The Central Alborz Protected Area covering more than 3,500 km² (1,400 sq mi) is one of the largest reserves in the country where leopards roam. Evidence for breeding of leopards was documented in six localities inside protected areas located in the Iranian part of the Lesser Caucasus.
  In Bamu National Park located northeast in Fars Province, camera trapping carried out from autumn 2007 to spring 2008 revealed seven individuals in a sampling area of 321.12 km² (123.99 sq mi).
  In northeastern Iran, four leopard families with two cubs each were identified during a survey carried out from 2005 to 2008 in Sarigol National Park. A male leopard was photographed in January 2008 spraying urine on a Berberis tree; he was photographed several times until mid-February 2008 in the same area. Camera trapping surveys in summer 2016 documented the presence of 52 leopards in Sarigol, Salouk and Tandooreh National Parks. These included 10 cubs in seven families, thus highlighting that the Kopet Dag and Aladagh Mountains constitute important leopard refugia in the Middle East.
caption: A leopard found dead near Zom village in the protected area of Kosalan and Shahu in 2019
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