Jun 27, 2016

The news of Iranian rangers who were reportedly killed by poachers has flooded Iranian social media pages in the last few days. In a span of 48 hours, two rangers were killed in Hormozgan province in southern Iran in the Geno Biosphere Reserve, a protected area by the Iranian Department of Environment since 1976. Another ranger was killed in Bamou National Park in Fars province.

Manouchehr Shojaei, who was killed in Bamou, was reportedly shot in the chest and thrown off a cliff on June 25, according to Arman Daily newspaper. He was transferred to a hospital in Shiraz where he died. The bloodied picture of Shojaei circulated widely on Iranian websites and social media. The environmental director for Fars province said that Shojaei was not armed during the confrontation and that his killing was “nothing but wickedness.”

According to Iranian officials, two hunters carrying unlicensed firearms were apprehended in the area. Bamou National Park is home to many deer, wild sheep and wild goats, and has been protected for more than 40 years.

Masoumeh Ebtekar, the head of Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, read President Hassan Rouhani’s condolence letter at the funerals of Mohammad Dehghani and Parviz Hormozi, the two rangers who were killed in Hormozgan. The statement read that Iran’s rangers are at the “front line of protection of Iran’s national resources.”

The job of a ranger is often seen as a thankless job and one only undertaken by those passionate about animal rights and preservation. Not only are they responsible for the preservation of wildlife, but also for the protection of the natural habitat. In the past when rangers have confronted poachers, they have faced legal consequences. Shargh Daily newspaper wrote that it was just four months ago that two rangers were released from prison after serving seven years for killing a poacher. The rangers were originally sentenced to death.