...

Rare Asian black bear in danger of extinction in Iran

Business Materials 25 November 2015 13:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 25

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Nine Asian black bears have been killed in Iran over the past three years, despite that the species are slited as endangered in the country.

Taher Qadirian, an Iranian environmentalist, has said that the nine Asian black bear which are listed as endangered species were killed in the provinces of Hormozgan, Kerman and Sistan-Baluochestan.

He added that they were either hunted, killed in road traffic accidents or by villagers, Mehr news agency reported Nov 25.

Ziziphus and pistacia atlantica are among the main sources of food for the Asian bears. However it is very difficult for the bears to find ziziphus and pistacia atlantica as people also eat it, so the bears approach to villages to find food which eventually leads to their death.

The local officials have recently hold training courses for villagers to deal with bears in case they appear in villages.

The expert further said that smuggling bear cubs to Pakistan is also one of the main reasons for the species to go extinct.

Qadirian said that the country has launched a project to protect the rear species of bears since 2013.

The Persian leopard also called Caucasian or Central Asian leopard is listed as Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List.

Tags:
Latest

Latest