A young male leopard was caught right at the end of a trapping expedition in Tandoureh National Park, giving the Foundation crew a pleasant sense of momentum before the operation closed. The leopard, aged 3–4 years, was captured in the early morning of 3 September 2015, just when the crew was preparing to collect the traps and pack up to head back to Tehran. Surprisingly, the capture came in the very last minutes, converting the expedition from a failure to a complete success.

The leopard was darted by Dr Jacques Kaandorp, who kindly joined the Foundation from the Beekse Bergen Safari Park in the Netherlands. The animal was fitted with a satellite collar, then after 60 minutes was reverse-anesthetized by the vet to allow it to walk away. In recognition of the tremendous contributions by the Project’s manager, Kaveh Hobeali, the leopard was named after him to be known as Tandoureh’s Kaveh. So far, four different leopards – all male – have been fitted with satellite collars in Tandoureh. Now is the time for a female leopard!