Iran’s Rare Cheetah Cub Dies of Kidney Failure

In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)
In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)
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Iran’s Rare Cheetah Cub Dies of Kidney Failure

In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)
In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, looks on at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 21, 2022. (Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP)

The last survivor of three critically endangered Asiatic cheetah cubs born in captivity in Iran died in hospital Tuesday from kidney failure, state media reported.

"Pirouz who was admitted to the Central Veterinary Hospital due to kidney failure last Thursday, died after undergoing dialysis," the official IRNA news agency said.

"The loss of Pirouz and ineffectiveness of all the efforts made by the treatment team in the past few days to save the animal saddens me and all my colleagues, and we apologize to everyone that we could not keep this animal alive," hospital director Omid Moradi told IRNA.

Pirouz, meaning "victorious" in Persian, had become a source of national pride since its birth in May last year at a wildlife refuge in northeastern Iran.

Two other cubs born with him died that same month, but Pirouz survived at a time when only a dozen members of the species are left in the wild.

The Asiatic cheetah -- Acinonyx jubatus venaticus -- is threatened with "dangerous ongoing decline" and is critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

According to a 2017 study referenced by IUCN, the sub-species is confined only to Iran where there were "less than 50 mature individuals."

The world's fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of 120 kilometers (74 miles) per hour, cheetahs once stalked habitats from the eastern reaches of India to the Atlantic coast of Senegal.

They are still found in parts of southern Africa but have practically disappeared from North Africa and Asia.

Iran began a United Nations-supported cheetah protection program in 2001.

In January 2022, deputy environment minister Hassan Akbari said Iran was home to only a dozen Asiatic cheetahs -- down from an estimated 100 in 2010.

Iran's environment department had hoped the birth of the cubs in captivity would help increase the cheetah population.



Prince William Says Wife Kate Doing 'Really Well' after Chemotherapy

Britain's Prince William, the Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, reacts during a visit to St. Mary's Harbour, the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly, England, to meet representatives from local businesses operating in the area, Friday May 10, 2024. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)
Britain's Prince William, the Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, reacts during a visit to St. Mary's Harbour, the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly, England, to meet representatives from local businesses operating in the area, Friday May 10, 2024. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)
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Prince William Says Wife Kate Doing 'Really Well' after Chemotherapy

Britain's Prince William, the Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, reacts during a visit to St. Mary's Harbour, the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly, England, to meet representatives from local businesses operating in the area, Friday May 10, 2024. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)
Britain's Prince William, the Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, reacts during a visit to St. Mary's Harbour, the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly, England, to meet representatives from local businesses operating in the area, Friday May 10, 2024. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

Britain's Prince William said on Wednesday his wife Kate was doing "really well" and had been amazing in a year when she has undergone preventative chemotherapy for cancer.

The British heir to the throne is currently in South Africa where he will later host the annual awards ceremony for his multi-million-dollar

Earthshot Prize. He made the trip without Kate who is still recovering from her treatment.

He said she would be cheering him on from their home in Britain.

"She's doing really well thanks," he told the BBC ahead of his environmental prize's awards ceremony in Cape Town. "She's been amazing this whole year. I know she will be really keen to see tonight be a success."

As well as Kate, he said he hoped their three children George, 11, Charlotte, 9, and Louis, 6, would also be watching on proudly, saying they as a family did what they could to help the environment.

"We go through all the basics of recycling and making sure we minimise water use and turning off lights when we leave the house and stuff like that," he said.

William set up the Earthshot prize to find innovations to combat climate and other green issues in 2020, inspired by U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1960s "moonshot" project which led to the 1969 lunar landing. Five winners receive 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) every year to drive their projects.

Asked how he could convey his Earthshot message during a tough political climate for environmental causes, he told the BBC: "I think everyone wants some hope and wants some optimism."

He said the young people of Africa who would attend the awards would show how important the issue was to them.

"Without them, you know, the future is looking pretty bleak," he said.