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A King for the Mountainous Landscapes: An Overview to the Cultural Significance and Conservation Requirements of the Persian Leopard in Iran

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Research and Management Practices for Conservation of the Persian Leopard in Iran

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Abstract

Similar to the other big cats of Iran (i.e., the Asiatic lion Panthera leo persica and the Caspian tiger Panthera tigris virgata that are extinct in the region), the Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor has a unique importance in the Iranian art, history, and literature. Symbolization of these species over centuries to emphasize on strength, intelligence, and bravery of the kings and national heroes indicates the significance of the big cats including the leopard, for the Iranian society. The Persian leopard has been also the center of attention for several local and nationwide researches in Iran since 2002. Seeing this introductory chapter of the book mainly consisted of an overview to the prior knowledge about the subspecies, the cultural importance, results of an assessment to determine the leopard conservation requirements in various regions of Iran as well as problem trees addressing habitat-related issues (e.g., habitat destruction and degradation) and high leopard mortality rate.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Persian Leopard Online Portal www.Persian-leopard.com.

  2. 2.

    Translated by H. Zimmern. Ames, Iowa, 2000.

  3. 3.

    Translated by H. Zimmern. Ames, Iowa, 2000.

  4. 4.

    Translated by H. Wilberforce Clarke. Calcutta, India, 1891.

  5. 5.

    Translation of this poem is selected from www.sohrabsepehri.com (accessed 01 October 2018). See also Attari-Kermani (2016).

  6. 6.

    It is worth mentioning that presence of leopard in this area was recently confirmed through the camera trappings by MR Besmeli and his colleagues.

  7. 7.

    Iranian part of the Caucasus Ecoregion is mainly located in this region.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Asian Leopard Specialist Society education team as well as facilitators in the first courses of the Persian Leopard Regional Workshops (S. N. Neshat, P. Pakzadmanesh and M. Almasi). We would like to acknowledge Conservation, Hunting and Finishing Management General Office at central DoE and Provincial DoE Offices of North Khorasan, West Azarbaijan, Boushehr and Golestan and the GEF Small Grants Program at UNDP for the supports in conducting regional conservation need assessments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Asian Leopard Specialist Society, Tehran, Iran

    Arezoo Sanei & Shirin Hermidas

  2. Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

    Arezoo Sanei

  3. Environment, Health and Safety Commission, Karaj City Council, Alborz, Iran

    Hossein Mohamadi

  4. Department of Environment, Conservation, Hunting and Fishing Management General Office, Tehran, Iran

    Hamid Reza Asgarian

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  1. Arezoo Sanei
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  2. Hossein Mohamadi
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Correspondence to Arezoo Sanei .

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  1. Asian Leopard Specialist Society, Tehran, Iran, Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

    Arezoo Sanei

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Sanei, A., Mohamadi, H., Hermidas, S., Asgarian, H.R. (2020). A King for the Mountainous Landscapes: An Overview to the Cultural Significance and Conservation Requirements of the Persian Leopard in Iran. In: Sanei, A. (eds) Research and Management Practices for Conservation of the Persian Leopard in Iran. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28003-1_2

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