I’m always fascinated by the Asiatic Cheetahs that one (rarely) finds in Iran.
So I was really pleased that the Iranian football team had adopted the Iranian cheetah as its motif for the upcoming World Cup
Here is a pic of the new cheetah shirt being unveiled.
And a link to the UNDP summary of everything that’s being done to try and prevent the extinction of the cheetah; as well as to a detailed Guardian article. In short summary, links are being made with local communities so they can understand a cheetah is worth more alive than dead.
But the main reason for this post is to share a heartwarming video. The cheetah video I shared with you previously showed a version of the traditional hunting with a cheetah that Shah Abbas would have done. In this old film, the poor trained cheetah starts the hunting on an ox-cart rather than perched on the back of horse. (Even the most squeamish of you can watch the first 3 mins)
But today, I want to suggest you look at a video from 2013 of a female cheetah, and her four almost-grown-up cubs – as shown in the photo here. What a marvel! Though this cheetah-mum will have to keep going if she wants a whole football team of little cheetahs!
The second posting is about Asiatic cheetahs. I’ve got a bit of thing about these very lovely animals (I’ve already posted on cheetahs here, here and here). Today, I want to make sure you’ve seen the video from last year of a mum and her four nearly-grown cubs. FIFA have just allowed the Iranian football team to have the Asiatic cheetah illustrated on their shirts – and its hoped this will increase public knowledge of the importance of conserving (rather than shooting) these rare animals.