Financial Tribune- A semi-natural habitat will be created for Asiatic Cheetahs in the Ardakan County of Yazd Province to facilitate the semi-captive breeding of the engangered animal.

According to Hassan Akbari, a deputy at the provincial office of the Department of Environment, about 35,000 hectares of Darreh Anjir Wildlife Refuge have been designated for the project, IRNA reported.

"If the project works successfully as expected, the cubs will be released into other preserved areas throughout the country in which the officials have already mitigated the risk factors facing the species," he said.

Although rearing carnivorous species in a way that they can later survive in the wild is a challenging task, semi-captive breeding seems to be the last hope to save the valuable animal from extinction. Reportedly, the project is currently pending approval to receive DOE funding. Iran is home to the last known Asiatic cheetahs in the world.