Miandasht Wildlife Refuge is a reserve in northeastern Iran. It comprises 844 square kilometres of semi desert and shrub land and is home to the endangered Asiatic cheetah

Asiatic Cheetah

The Asiatic Cheetah is now also known as the Iranian Cheetah, as the world's last few are known to survive mostly in Iran. Although recently presumed to be extinct in India, it is also known as the Indian Cheetah...

.

History and location

Miandasht Wildlife Refuge is situated in North Khorasan Province

North Khorasan Province

North Khorasan Province is a province located in northeastern Iran. Bojnord is the centre of the province.Other counties are Shirvan, Esfarayen, Maneh-o-Samalqan, Jajarm, Faroj and Germeh....

 in northeastern Iran. It has been designated as a Wildlife Reserve by the Iranian Department of the Environment in 1973. The reserve is located to the south of Golestan National Park, and to the east of Khar Turan National Park

Khar Turan National Park

Khar Turan National Park is a National Park in Iran. It is situated in Semnan province, southeast of Shahrud. With a size of 1.4 million ha it is the second largest reserve in Iran. Kahr Turan is home to one of the largest populations of the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah. There are about...

.

Landscape and vegetation

The reserve comprises 84.435 hectares of dry flat plains interrupted by rolling hills. Most of the reserve lies slightly below 1000 m, the highest point is reached at 1340 m above sea level. The mean annual precipitation is 150 mm. Around the reserve are some human settlements and during winter about 15.000 heads of livestock graze in the reserve. The desert-like landscape is covered with wormwood

Artemisia (plant)

Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants with between 200 to 400 species belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae. It comprises hardy herbs and shrubs known for their volatile oils. They grow in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, usually in dry or semi-dry...

 (Arthmisia sieberi), feather grass (Stipa), saltwort

Saltwort

Saltwort is a common name for several genera of flowering plants, including:*Batis, family Bataceae*Salicornia and Salsola, family Amaranthaceae*Salsola kali, prickly saltwort...

 (Salsola), saxaul

Saxaul

The saxaul, black saxaul, sometimes sacsaoul or saksaul , is a plant belonging to the Amaranthaceae.-Description:The saxaul ranges in size from a large shrub to a small tree, 2-8 m tall. It has a brown trunk 4-10 cm in diameter. The wood is heavy and coarse and the bark is spongy and water-soaked...

 trees (Haloxylon) and tamarisk (Tamarix).

Fauna

Miandasht Wildlife Refuge is home to the rare Asiatic cheetah

Asiatic Cheetah

The Asiatic Cheetah is now also known as the Iranian Cheetah, as the world's last few are known to survive mostly in Iran. Although recently presumed to be extinct in India, it is also known as the Indian Cheetah...

. Other confirmed carnivore species include striped hyena

Striped Hyena

The Striped Hyena is a species of true hyena native to North and East Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Middle and Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...

 (Hyaena hyaena), wolf (Canis lupus), caracal

Caracal

The caracal is a fiercely territorial medium-sized cat ranging over Western Asia, South Asia and Africa.The word caracal comes from the Turkish word "karakulak", meaning "black ear". In North India and Pakistan, the caracal is locally known as syahgosh or shyahgosh, which is a Persian term...

 (Caracal caracal), wild cat

Wild cat

The wildcat is a small cat with several subspecies and a very broad distribution, found throughout most of Africa, Europe, and southwest and central Asia into India, China, and Mongolia. It is a hunter of small mammals, birds, and other creatures of a similar or smaller size. Sometimes included is...

 (Felis silvestris), red fox

Red Fox

The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...

 (Vulpes vulpes) and golden jackal

Golden Jackal

The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...

 (Canis aureus). Larger herbivores are represented by goitered gazelle

Goitered Gazelle

The Goitered, Black-tailed or Persian gazelle is a gazelle found in the north part of Azerbaijan, in a large area of central Asia, including part of Iran and southern west Pakistan in the western end of the range, as well as the Gobi desert...

s, low numbers of wild sheep (Ovis), and
wild boars (Sus scrofa). Rodents and hares are abundant. The main raptors are the long-legged buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard

The Long-legged Buzzard is a bird of prey.-Description:It is similar in appearance to the Rough-legged Buzzard , but larger and more robust. There are many different colour forms, but usually Long-leggeds have a clear orange tint to the plumage, red or orange tail, pale head and largely white...

 (Buteo ruffinus) and the golden eagle

Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...

(Aquila heliaca).

External links

• Miandasht Wildlife Refuge at wikimapia