Iran cheetah champion wins conservation prize

15/10/2012 10:49:06 Rabinowitz-Kaplan Prize 2012 Prize Winner - Mohammad Farhadinia
October 2012. Born in Iran, Mohammad Farhadinia was selected as the recipient of the 2012 Rabinowitz-Kaplan Prize for the Next Generation in Wild Cat Conservation. Mohammad started compiling a dataset of observations on the Asiatic cheetah at the age of 16, and he has studied the Asiatic cheetah and the Persian leopard while completing his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees at the University of Tehran.

Iranian Cheetah Society
In 2001, Mohammad established the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of cheetahs and other wild carnivores. Since its founding, the Society has become an important player in Iran's wildlife conservation efforts, with projects focused on the Asiatic cheetah, the Persian leopard, and the brown bear. In 2008, Mohammad joined the Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP) - a comprehensive conservation program established by Iran's Department of the Environment (DOE), and carried out with Panthera, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the United Nations Development Programme. As a CACP consultant, Mohammad supervises research efforts, capacity building initiatives, student programs, and educational plans. He also leads Iran's Persian leopard conservation efforts in the Caucasus, and has represented Iran in international meetings and symposia.

Recently, Mohammad was admitted to Oxford University where he will pursue his doctoral degree at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU). Through this degree, Mohammad plans to focus his research on a comprehensive ecological investigation of the Persian leopard.

Rabinowitz-Kaplan Prize for the Next Generation in Wild Cat Conservation

Each year, Panthera will give a prize in the amount of $15,000 to a special individual under the age of 40 who has already made a significant contribution to conserving wild cats, and who represents the next generation of scientists, conservationists, policy makers, politicians and planners who will pave the future of wild cat conservation. This person has and will continue to work tirelessly to contribute, in a significant way, to the conservation of wild cats. Applications will be reviewed by the Cat Advisory Council, who will determine the final award recipient. The prize is to be used at the discretion of the recipient.