Nayereh Pour-Molaei, the head of the Yazd department of environment said on Wednesday that the Persian leopard has been spotted for the first time at the wildlife refuge of Khatam County after years.

The highlands of Yazd province, such as Shirkuh, Bafgh Mountain and Bahabad are among the most important habitats of the Persian leopard species in the central plateau of Iran, she added.

Panthera pardus tulliana is a leopard subspecies native to the Iranian Plateau and surrounding areas encompassing Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and possibly Pakistan. Since 2016, it has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the population was estimated at 871 to 1,290 mature individuals, with a declining trend.

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