u/Ben10-fan-525

All of them to me are special.

But Amur Leopard who lives in snowy habitats(not that other Leopards dont do it too.But Amur Leopards are in much more diverse snowy habitats)is one of my faivorites.It is just so amazing how they survive such high places/travel thru mountains and are able to fend off wolves + survive colder enviorments.

Arabian Leopard to me is cutest.Cause they are smallest and have grey/whiteish natural fur(not created thru inbreeding like how some Zoo's market White Wild Cats).

Persian Leopard is the giga-chad for being largest.

Sir Lankan and Javan Leopards are one of the only Big Cats(Panthera)that live on islands today(tho Sumatran Tiger and Sunda Clouded Leopard who lives in Borneo/Sumatra).It is so cool and amazing conservation to still have big panthera cats on islands.

They are all awesome! 🐆

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcF9N5Ttw-W/?igsh=MWw1Nzc4aXVkNTZ3eA%3D%3D&igsi=MWw1Nzc4aXVkNTZ3eA%3D%3D

Iranian conservationists go above and beyond for there animals but I think many people overlook Iranian conservationists a bit(not that people dont know about Iranian Asiatic Cheetah and there struggles).But there is a struggle of people who are trying to save them too.

Irans wildlife isnt just Asiatic Cheetah but a whole network of bio-diversity:Wild Ass/Deer/Bear/Wild Boar/Antilopes/Persian Leopard and many more.The habitats can be very diverse.From deserts to grasslands and more elevated places.Many herbivores and carnivores inhabit these places.

From the first picture(Top row from left:Niloufar Bayani;Taher Ghadirian;Houman Jowkar and Sepideh Kashani.Bottom row from left:Amirhossein Khaleghi Hamidi;Abdolreza Kouhpayeh;Sam Radjabi and Morad Tahbaz)/Kavous Seyed Emami(in the second picture)/his son Ramin Emami(in the third picture).And many others are some of the most caring and deeply devoted to nature conservationists there are.

They where working in Persian Wildlife Foundation(while it was still running)with many other conservationists.

To protect the wildlife of Iran.

Protecting Asiatic Cheetahs from the road Meyami-Sabzevar between there protected areas.Making wildlife crossings between the road and adding fences to protect the Cheetahs(guide them to not go near unprotected road parts).

Going to Africa and seeing how there captive-release Cheetah program works.Captivley breeding Cheetahs.Tracking and monitoring Cheetahs and working with local people for less poaching.Making first successes in captively breeding Asiatic Cheetahs(even tho all 3 cubs did die eventually before reaching adulthood..).

Monitoring a lot of species and a lot of critically endangered ones like Asian Black Bear(Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus)going and raising awarness about them.

Helping herbivores with grasslands and monitoring Persian Leopards.

But the challenges they face are unlike most conservationists have to deal with

All of the conservationists I mentioned(except Ramin Emami)have been arrested because of the suspction that they where using the camera traps to film Iran illegally and sell data to USA and Israel in 2018.Of course the charges didnt actually have much proof behind them(the cause wasnt exactly determined either.Looking back many journalists bring up the Panthera USA based organisation for it.Cause it did help the Persian WildLife Foundation.And its CEO was a millionare who was working against Iran Thomas Kaplan).Whatever the reason may be the charges stuck(everyone was convicted in 2019.Not by papers but verbally.Again journalist point to foul play in the system).Kavous Seyed Emami died in prison shortly after his arrest(the cause told by the government and not further investigated upon.His sons doubt this claim).

The rest where released around 2024(after serving for a crime that again wasnt propely pointed out to them what they did wrong).There families where told by government to not further speak about the events.The eight conservationists after being released still cant continue there work(cause of 2 year ban after serving there sentences).

The problems for conservationists dont just stop there.War and sanctions prohibit other conservationists that wherent charged with anything from taking good camera-traps for monitoring population numbers.The cars people use for conservation are also not so awailable anymore.Satellite pictures are a out of the question too.

Up to 60% of places are out of jobs for conservationists in many protected areas.

Not to mention conservationist ranger cars can be mistaken for war cars and be struck down by heavy weaponry in a war.Leading to deaths of conservationists.

But people in Iran never give up even if they cant get funding from the other nations do to sanctions and even with these problems.They never give up.

Because they see hope in nature.In Asiatic Cheetah as symbol of hope and many other animals.They care for wildlife enough to die for it.And I think thats some of the most devoted conservation work I have ever seen(just like how people climb to trees to stop them from being cut).

Lets celebrate these amazing people and how they protect there animals!!!

(also sorry if I messed up any of there names...I had to fit a lot of text here..).

Will link all articles about these events down in the comments(cant fit it all here).

Also yeah one user did point out to me that two animals arent shown accurate pictures of(Wolves and Moose).But well thats how the site made the picture sadly...

I am not really sure what to change here..Maybe add Blue Whale infront of the Fin Whale?(tho that may not be neccesary cause Fin Whale also deserves the spotlight).

Great White isnt as concetreated in Europe as it is around the world and other species also deserve spotlight.So it may not need a spot here.

Think the list is good as it is now(for me at least).

What do you think?

The odds are stacked against them.

Even worse then how people view Wolves/Bears in Europe.(any large carnivore for that matter).

But if the other four where possible(yes they are herbivores but still).There must be some place on Europe that could take Leopards.

Maybe Spain with its *Africa similar* climate and open spaces(without humans).Large herbivore populations for them to feast on?Could Spain be the key yet again?Like with Wild Horse and Tauros?

Lizards from families Varanidae and Teiidae are some of the largest lizards on the planet.

And they can be very much puppy/dragon friendly like.If worked with well and cared for well(by professionals or experienced reptile keepers).

So Re Zero friendly Dragons arent really all that fictional afterall right?

​I am writing this out of sheer desperation and a need for global solidarity. Deep in the Eastern Himalayas, in the Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh, India, one of the world’s most pristine and irreplaceable ecosystems is about to be systematically dismantled. The state government has recently revived a series of massive, cascading hydroelectric projects—specifically the Emini (500 MW) and Amulin (420 MW) dams on the Mathun River, alongside the colossal Etalin project (3,097 MW). While these are marketed under the relatively clean-sounding label of "run-of-the-river" projects, the reality on the ground is an environmental nightmare. They require blasting miles of massive underground tunnels, clear-cutting hundreds of thousands of ancient trees, and carving heavy industrial infrastructure into a steep, intact landscape that has never seen this scale of human exploitation. We are staring down the barrel of total socio-ecological severance for a region that serves as a vital climate buffer.

​To understand what is at stake, you have to understand the sheer ecological weight of this region. The Dibang Valley is an internationally recognized Endemic Bird Area and a biodiversity basin home to 600 species of birds—accounting for more than half of all avian diversity found in the entire Indian subcontinent. Because of its extreme altitudinal variations, it creates specialized micro-habitats that support rare flora and fauna found nowhere else on earth. Beyond the incredible birdlife, these valleys are home to the endangered Mishmi Takin, red pandas, clouded leopards, and a unique population of high-altitude tigers that hunt in the snow-capped peaks. Building these dams will subvert and flood the valley-bottom habitats, which act as the absolute lifeblood and migration corridors for these animals. The associated "zone of influence" damage—from extensive road carving, heavy stone quarrying, and the dumping of millions of tons of excavated rock muck directly into the river systems—will permanently choke the aquatic life and fracture this contiguous forest into isolated, dying fragments.

​Beyond the ecological tragedy, building these mega-structures here is a terrifying geological gamble. The Himalayas are the youngest and most volatile mountain range in the world. The rock is inherently brittle, and the Dibang Valley sits squarely in Seismic Zone V, the highest earthquake risk category. Forcing heavy industrial blasting for 5-kilometer and 7-kilometer underground tunnels through these fragile mountainsides will catastrophically destabilize the slopes, triggering massive, unpredictable landslides. We have already seen the devastating proof of concept for this danger: in October 2023, the nearby Chungthang Dam (Teesta Stage III)—built using the exact same concrete gravity, run-of-the-river blueprint—was completely wiped out and washed away by a glacial lake outburst flood, causing downstream catastrophe. Stacking multiple mega-dams in an even more volatile, glacier-fed basin like the Upper Dibang is an ecological time bomb waiting to go off.

​The frontline defense against this destruction is the indigenous Idu Mishmi tribe, whose ancestral homelands encompass these valleys. Their animistic culture and strict traditional taboos against commercial hunting have effectively preserved this biodiversity for centuries; they don't just live in the forest, they are its caretakers. Right now, local youth, student unions, and indigenous groups like the Indigenous Research Advocacy Dibang (IRAD) are putting everything on the line to fight back. They are mounting legal challenges, citing blatant violations of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), and demanding comprehensive, basin-wide Cumulative Impact Assessments. But the state is cracking down hard. Prominent local activists and environmental lawyers are facing police detentions, arbitrary First Information Reports (FIRs), and forced peace bonds just for organizing peaceful public protests and demanding legal transparency. The local community is being stifled, and the power developers are rushing to finalize the Detailed Project Reports.

​I am reaching out to this community because the local resistance cannot fight this state-backed machinery alone. We desperately need international eyes on the Dibang Valley. I want to ask the experts, advocates, and seasoned campaigners here: How can a project like this be stopped when internal democratic and legal avenues are being systematically squeezed?

​Are there international legal frameworks, transnational environmental networks, or global conservation campaigns that have successfully intervened in cases like this? How can we elevate the voices of the Idu Mishmi activists to international human rights and conservation forums? If you have experience fighting mega-infrastructure in biodiversity hotspots, or if you know of organizations, investigative journalists, or legal networks we should be tagging into this fight, please share your insights. We cannot let one of the last truly wild places on Earth be quietly drowned for profit.

There was a whole family of them there.🥺

Will post more of them later if I have clear pictures of them. 🦉