A Brown Bear, an Endangered Species of Iran's Wildlife, Killed

A brown bear, an endangered species of Iran's wildlife, was killed after being struck by several passing vehicles on the unfinished Qazvin - Tonekabon road. According to reports in Iran, Mehdi Taheri, the commander of the environmental protection unit in Qazvin province, stated on Wednesday, June 30, that this bear was killed on the under-construction Qazvin - Alamut - Tonekabon road, between the Shirkuh tunnel and the village of Baghdasht in a hunting and shooting prohibited area of Alamut. The Alamut region is considered one of the best habitats for brown bears in Iran due to its unique geographical conditions. In recent years, there have been numerous reports of accidents involving passing vehicles colliding with valuable wildlife species such as leopards, bears, and wild goats on the Qazvin-Tonekabon route, making this road a threatening place for Iran's wildlife. Taheri stated that the construction and passage of this road for easier access to the north of the country has made it unsafe for valuable animal species and poses a threat to the survival of these precious animals. Other dangerous roads for endangered species in Iran include the Tehran-Mashhad road, which has become a 'killing ground' for the Iranian cheetah. A significant part of the 'migration corridor' for the Asiatic cheetah lies along the Tehran-Mashhad route, and 'road accidents involving vehicles and cheetahs' have recently claimed several of them as victims of human interference in nature. Over the past two decades, several environmental activists in Iran, including those involved in the national conservation project for the Iranian cheetah, have faced government crackdowns from various institutions of the Islamic Republic, with some even being arrested.