Iran mourns loss of Pirouz, critically endangered cheetah cub | CPT PPP Coverage

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Iranians woke up on Tuesday to the death of Pirouz, a cheetah cub of the critically endangered Asiatic species and the very last one of them in captivity. Symbolizing hope for many Iranians, Pirouz had been making headlines since last May, when he survived a C-section while his two siblings were stillborn.

Pirouz, whose Persian name means “triumphant,” suffered one complication after another during his 10-month life. Last Thursday, he was hospitalized for dialysis under a team of veterinarians at a Tehran clinic as they battled to prevent kidney failure.

Clinic chief Omid Moradi delivered the news in a sad video message. “The health complications he was coping with … left him with no other fate than departure,” he said. “I appreciate that he was the source of hope for many.”

During one of the darkest years for the people of Iran, Pirouz (“Victorious”), an endangered Asiatic cheetah born in captivity, was a symbol of hope.

He died today of acute kidney failure (and due to mismanagement by Iranian authorities).

RIP “son of Iran.” ? #????? pic.twitter.com/AKh2zcHdlN

— Holly Dagres (@hdagres) February 28, 2023

The Asiatic cheetah is facing extinction. Down from 100 only a decade ago, only a dozen are known to be currently roaming in Iran, home of their last remaining habitat.

For years the Iranian government has been under fire for its refusal to prioritize environment protection in its long-term planning. A record of failures to protect the cheetahs as well as other environmental disasters, such as the evaporation of Lake Urmia, had already fueled public concern that Pirouz, despite the efforts of his carers, would never make it to adulthood and reproduce.

“Pirouz is just one among tons more cases of imprudence, and all the calamities that are befalling this country’s environment. Alas,” wrote one user on Persian Twitter where the cub’s name was trending.

The Iranian Parliament’s environment committee announced on Tuesday that it was planning to hold a “special meeting” to investigate the cheetah’s death. Critics dug up a November statement by the deputy of the Department of Environment deputy, who said his organization “could no longer spend time and budget on saving Pirouz,” Khabar oline reported. 

Kaveh Madani is an environmental scientist at City College of New York and a former deputy chief of Iran’s Department of Environment, who had to leave the country in 2018 under pressure from the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “Farewell, the good son of Iran,” he tweeted. “We will never forget that at a time of oppression, sadness and grief, you brought love, happiness and smiles to a nation.”

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— BBC NEWS ????? (@bbcpersian) February 28, 2023

Pirouz also clawed his way into the anti-government uprising that has shaken Iran since mid-September.

Shervin Hajipour’s widely popular protest anthem “Baraye,” a lyrical compilation of social media posts that won a 2023 Emmy, mentioned the cub: “For the sake of Pirouz and the risk of his looming extinction.”

“They killed our Pirouz,” tweeted Iranian-Belgian member of the Belgian Parliament Darya Safai, who has been campaigning to hold Iranian authorities accountable for the deadly crackdown at home. “But the triumph of the Iranian nation against Pirouz’s inept killers is inevitable.”