The illegal use of snares and gin traps threatens endangered leopards in Iran

We report on six cases of snare and gin trap captures of free-ranging Persian leopards Panthera pardus tulliana in northern Iran between 2012 and 2017. Three of these leopards died as result of severe injuries, the three others were rescued, one survived albeit disabled, two could be released to the wild but one of them died less than two months after release. These captures were unintentional, and resulted from snares and gin trap being deployed illegally by farmers to rid their crops and chicken-coop from wild boars Sus scrofa (5) and possibly jackals Canis aureus / jungle cats Felis chaus (1), respectively. These cases reveal the growing problem of habitat disturbance and loss for leopard and their natural prey in the Alborz mountain range and Caspian lowlands of Iran.