This April I had the opportunity to join herpetologist Dr. Gunther Köhler in an expedition we did in south-west Iran together with an Iranian biology student and a driver. It was our goal to find leopard geckos in their natural habitat- and to experience the country, the people and a lots of herps.
Our journey started at Shiraz in the Zaghros Mountains and led us to the iranian-iraqui border region. We enjoyed the beautiful country, the very friendly and hospitable Iranians- and lots of animals, including 20 reptile and amphibian species. On our way from the mountains to sea-level, we crossed many different habitats.
And we found great reptile species from Cyrtopodion up in the mountains,….
….to Saara (Uromastyx) loricata we found in a steppe-like habitat….
…and lots of geckos including Stenodactylus- and Bunopus- species, as well as snakes like this Echis carinatus...
....that also accepted closer investigations.
The only thing we didn`t find were leopard geckos. No matter how hard we were searching at all localities that were described in scientific literature: Nothing.
The last night we were in an adequate habitat, we gave it a very last try. And we found lot of reptiles that can be found together with Eublepharis angramainyu as for example
and
Pretty frustrated we started a last attempt- and suddenly I saw something looking at ME! It was this nice an young leopard gecko!
It`s hard to describe how it feels to finally find what you were looking for so hard! I would have loved to stay there for much longer. :main_yes: Hopefully we will return there by next year!
We found a lot more animals and took many pictures. We will write an article about this journey, once we find the time. But maybe this can already give you a first impression!
Best regards
Karsten
Our journey started at Shiraz in the Zaghros Mountains and led us to the iranian-iraqui border region. We enjoyed the beautiful country, the very friendly and hospitable Iranians- and lots of animals, including 20 reptile and amphibian species. On our way from the mountains to sea-level, we crossed many different habitats.
And we found great reptile species from Cyrtopodion up in the mountains,….
….to Saara (Uromastyx) loricata we found in a steppe-like habitat….
…and lots of geckos including Stenodactylus- and Bunopus- species, as well as snakes like this Echis carinatus...
....that also accepted closer investigations.
The only thing we didn`t find were leopard geckos. No matter how hard we were searching at all localities that were described in scientific literature: Nothing.
The last night we were in an adequate habitat, we gave it a very last try. And we found lot of reptiles that can be found together with Eublepharis angramainyu as for example
and
Pretty frustrated we started a last attempt- and suddenly I saw something looking at ME! It was this nice an young leopard gecko!
It`s hard to describe how it feels to finally find what you were looking for so hard! I would have loved to stay there for much longer. :main_yes: Hopefully we will return there by next year!
We found a lot more animals and took many pictures. We will write an article about this journey, once we find the time. But maybe this can already give you a first impression!
Best regards
Karsten
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