Poaching is a serious threat to wildlife, particularly for large mammals such as bezoar goat, red deer, brown bears and leopards. In the absence of proper anti-poaching measures, there is much less chance for wildlife to survive.
In northern Iran, where our Leopard Guardians program is ongoing, there is a wonderful diversity of wildlife. Yet protecting these high elevations is extremely challenging, particularly in colder months when there is no ranger post. This is when our field crew came up with a solution: building a mountain ranger post!
During the past six weeks, a cave was developed into a ranger post, thanks to tremendous help from herders living nearby. The new ranger post, now equipped with necessary living facilities, is able to provide shelter at extreme weather situations, which is usual at elevations of 2500 m. Importantly, two kilometres of pipelines have been built from a spring at higher elevations to direct water to the post, where is much safer for bezoar goat to hang out. We are hopeful that expanding anti-poaching measures would provide a safer heaven for the vanishing wildlife in northern Iran.