Khar Turan National Park

Khar Turan National Park and Touran Wildlife Refuge are adjoining protected areas in Iran. They are situated in the Semnan province, southeast of Shahrud. With a size of 1,400,000 hectares (14,000 km2), They form the second largest reserve in Iran. Khar Turan National Park also called the little Africa in Iran, is registered as the second biosphere reserve in the world by UNESCO (biosphere reserves are protected areas of ecosystems promoting solutions to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with sustainable use), Turan National Park and Wildlife Refuge is one of the astonishing expanses to observe the mysteries of the wildlife accustomed to arid and semi-arid regions of Iran. Being the second-largest reserve in this country, this park embraces arid highlands, lowlands, mounts, sands, and endless salt pans. [2]

UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Iran[1]
Olang, Khar Turan National Park, 2016.

Fauna

Khar Turan is home to one of the largest populations of the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah. There were about 12 – 15 of these cats in the area. Occasional reports of females with cubs indicate a breeding and perhaps growing population. On late December 2014, four new cheetahs have been spotted by camera traps.[3] Another four new individuals consisting of a female and her three cubs had been reported in January 2015, after another eleven new cheetahs were spotted a month before,[4] and an additional eight cheetahs had been spotted in July 2015.[5] With the increasing numbers of cheetahs in Khar Turan, there is an estimated population of between 39 and 42 individuals.

Khar Turan has the largest population of Persian onager, and two species of gazelles: the goitered gazelle and Indian gazelle, both in good numbers. There are also wild sheep and goats in the reserve.

See also

References
  1. "UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Directory".
  2. "Khar Turan National Park". 22 August 2020.
  3. "Camera traps capture 4 new Asiatic Cheetahs in Iran". mehrnews.com. 28 December 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  4. "Female Asiatic cheetah, 3 cubs sighted in Turan National Park". mehrnews.com. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  5. "8 Asiatic cheetahs spotted in Shahroud". mehrnews.com. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.

36.5000°N 55.50000°E / 36.5000; 55.50000

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