Named Pirouz, the cub was moved to hospital on Saturday and had become a source of national pride since its birth in May last year at a wildlife refuge in the country's northeast.
Two other cubs born with him died that same month, but Pirouz survived at a time when only a dozen members of the species were left in the wild.
The number of Asiatic cheetahs -- Acinonyx jubatus venaticus -- is threatened with "dangerous ongoing decline," according to data cited by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
According to a 2017 study referenced by IUCN, the sub-species is confined only to Iran where there were "less than 50 mature individuals."
"We were informed on Thursday that Pirouz is not in good condition", Tasnim news agency quoted Dr Omid Moradi, head of the Central Veterinary Hospital, as saying.
Investigation revealed the cheetah cub "is suffering from an acute kidney failure," he said.
In the latest video posted by the hospital on Instagram, Moradi said Pirouz's condition is not stable and "far from good."
The animal's condition led to an outpouring of emotion by Iranian netizens.
"Pirouz is the only happiness of the nation," wrote one Twitter user, calling on people to pray for the cub.
Others expressed fears for the species' extinction.
The world's fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of 120 kilometres (74 miles) per hour, cheetahs once stalked habitats from the eastern reaches of India to the Atlantic coast of Senegal and beyond.
They are still found in parts of southern Africa but have practically disappeared from North Africa and Asia.
Iran began a United Nations-supported cheetah protection programme in 2001.
In January 2022, deputy environment minister Hassan Akbari said Iran was home to only a dozen Asiatic cheetahs -- down from an estimated 100 in 2010.
Iran's environment department hoped the cubs' birth would help increase the cheetah population.
Cockfighting still a popular blood sport in southern Iraq
Basra, Iraq (AFP) Feb 27, 2023 -
Two vicious roosters circle a filthy carpet in southern Iraq, facing off for a cockfight that has drawn dozens to a dimly lit cafe in the port city of Basra.
"This practice has been around since I was born in 1949," said referee Riad Ali, whose father introduced him to cockfighting when he was around 10.
The popular blood sport "dates back to the 1920s or earlier" in Basra and is thought to have arrived with boats at the port, he added.
Banned in many parts of the world due to concerns over animal cruelty, cockfighting has remained common from the Philippines to India, and is tolerated in areas including parts of northern France.
An AFP photographer witnessed several nights of fights in Basra, where red-crested roosters were locked in a violent dance, leaving smears of blood on their feet and neck as they leapt and pecked at each other.
Spectators on narrow seats near the red and yellow ring littered with feathers sipped tea as they watched, the smell of cigarettes and water pipes filling the air.
The avian bouts can last for an hour or two, and end when the birds are exhausted or when one of the owners withdraws his animal, said Ali, who has been an amateur cockfighting referee for around two decades.
Retiree Naji Hamza said he had been attending cockfights since the 1970s even though they were banned during the time of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's former dictator who was toppled following a 2003 US-led invasion.
"We were in secluded homes, not at a cafe or in public" like now, said the 70-year-old.
Islam prohibits gambling, and in conservative, Muslim-majority Iraq it is usually the animals' owners who make wagers, putting down between 25,000 and 100,000 dinars ($17-$68) per fight -- though spectators sometimes have a flutter too.
Mohammed, a 51-year-old mechanic who declined to provide his surname, said he had had birds in the ring since the early 1990s, and bought his three roosters in Turkey for between $900 and $1,100 each.
"We come to the cafe in the evening and spend an hour or two. We see our friends," he said.
"It's a pastime, a leisure activity during winter," he added.
Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
