Extinction fears: only 17 Asiatic cheetahs left in wild

Only 17 specimens of the endangered Asiatic cheetah are left in the world, according to the head of Iran's national environment agency, Shina Ansari.

Asiatic cheetahs are a subspecies of cheetah found only in Iran. The environmental organisation WWF says there are five subspecies, with most of the world's 6600 cheetahs living in South Africa.

Ansari was speaking to the Irna news agency on Sunday, on the sidelines of the signing of an agreement between the national environment agency and the traffic police.

The agreement is aimed at protecting the big cats in the Turan protected area, located some 400 kilometres north east of Tehran.

The region is a crucial habitat for Asiatic cheetahs in Iran, yet animals are often killed on highways.

In 2007, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated the number of cheetahs in Iran at between 60 and 100.

Cheetahs are used as a national symbol in Iran and often appear in artworks.

Iran participated in the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup tournaments with an Asiatic cheetah emblem on their jerseys.

Iranian environmental and animal rights activists have long warned of the extinction of the Asiatic cheetah.

Many of those who have accused authorities of not doing enough to protect the endangered animals in Iran have been sentenced to long prison terms.