A Persian Leopard, has just been born in Amersfoort Zoo in the Netherlands. The feline cub has been named “Cyrus”, in honor of the legendary founder of the Persian Empire.
Persian Panthers are currently on the endangered species list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Less than 400 survive in Iran with less numbers in Afghanistan, according to the Persian Leopard Conservation Society, a non-governmental organization established in 1998, in Tehran. They continue to be hunted illegally in Iran.