The Big Cats of Turkestan - Dmitri Logofet, 1909
Translation about the wild cats of the Kopet Dag Mountains in Turkmenistan
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Translator’s Introduction
Below is a translation of an excerpt about the large, wild cats of Turkestan, from Dmitri Nikolaevich Logofet’s “На границах Средней Азии. Путевые очерки в 3-х книгах. Книга 1. Персидская граница.” (On the frontiers of Middle Asia. Travel notes in 3 books. Book 1. The Persian frontier), published in 1909. The source of the translation can be found here. The original text of all three volumes can be found here.
The excerpt specifically covers the Asian Cheetah, Caucasian Leopard and the Caspian Tiger.
First, a few notes on these cats.
The Asian Cheetah (also known as the Trans-Caspian Cheetah) has shorter legs, stronger neck and thicker fur than its African cousins. Their population in Iran fell as low as 60 by the end of the 20th century. Historically they ranged as far the Mangyshlak peninsula in western Kazakhstan, but has not been seen there since the collapse of the Soviet Union. They have also been found in northern Afghanistan.
The Caucasian Leopard has been found in Caucasus, western Central Asia, Afghanistan, Turkey, and most of all in Iran, which hosts a population about 800-1300 in number. They are currently being reintroduced into the wild in Russia’s North Caucasus region, and they have reappeared in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in recent years. The state flags of North and South Ossetia both feature the Caucasian Leopard.
The Caspian, or Turan Tiger, is now totally extinct. It is believed they possibly use to range as far as Ukraine in the west and the Altai Mountains in the east. Researchers believe the Amur Tiger of the Russian Far East is an immediate relative of the Caspian species. Last time a Caspian Tiger was seen on Soviet territory was in 1954 in the Kopet Dag Mountains on the Iranian frontier. Yet, Kazakhstan and the WWF have planned to reintroduce tigers to Kazakhstan near Lake Balkhash.
A note on the geography. The excerpt takes place in the Kopet Dag Mountains. These mountains form the northeastern edge of the Iranian plateau, as well as the Turkmen-Iranian border. Russia conquered and colonized Turkmenistan in the 1880’s. The Russians launched their invasion from the port Kransovodsk on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and then moved eastwards along the northern face of the Kopet Dag Mountains up to the Afghan frontier north of Herat.
The text specifically occurs in the Chandyr river valley, just before the Chakan-Kala post. The Chandyr river begins in Iran, flowing westwards into Turkmenistan beofre merging with the Sumbar river, which later flows into the Artek river, which eventually drains into the Caspian Sea. I did not look into it too deeply, but I found very little on the Chakan-Kala post station. All that I found is on this forum page, under the post “Установление пограничного надзора в закаспийской область, средней азии и на правом берегу рек пяндж и аму-дарья. часть 1” It says, “Chakan-Kala, located right on the Persian frontier… The Chakan-Kala post was located in a gorge which leadы to Persia, it occupied an old Cossack barracks, surrounded by a high wall with four two-story towers on its corners.”
Unfortunately I could not find any pictures of the Chandyr River valley. Not only is the region particularly remote, Turkmenistan is quite a secretive country and very difficult to travel to, and its border regions with Iran are probably especially so.
The Turkestan Cats: Tiger, Leopard, Cheetah
Our horses stretched out in a long procession as they went along the gorge, following the course of the river Chandyr.1 Before the Chakan-Kala post, the road ran through endless thickets, stretching out along both sides of the rocky mountains. Near the river sown fields could be seen. Turkmen kibitkas,2 spread out far from each other, stretched out in a row on to our road. It could be immediately felt that this place had been home to the native population for a long time. Huge herds of sheep were visible in the dark spots on the mountain slopes. White shepherd dogs saw us off with deaf barks, attentively examining their surroundings with their intelligent eyes. Walking a few versts3 through the valley, we went up to the peaks of the range and from there we went down into a narrow gorge, along which ran a trail. We encountered solid thickets more and more…
“Here is where freedom exists for every kind of animal. More spacious places are difficult to find”, said the doctor, pointing to the freshly laid tracks, heading from a small spring in the thicket.
— Yes, there really are many animals here. People often come across leopards, tigers, cheetahs and various kinds of wild cats. All of these animals are powerful, and they often attack people. The only exception to this are cheetahs. Cheetahs and leopards are different in appearance only in their height and size. In addition, the cheetah has claws similar to a dog’s… In Abyssinia4 for example, cheetahs can be tamed: they have the ability to bond with a person and serve no worse than a hunting dog.
In fact, despite its terrifying enough appearance, the beast is peaceful… Recently our guard dog drove a cheetah out from the thickets. It was brought to the point of complete exhaustion, and then people ran up to it and killed it with sticks… The skins came out to be very beautiful – white with black ring spots.
The leopard is another matter. With it comes danger. Sometimes it will just rush at you – regardless whether or not you bothered him. There have been examples of leopards jumping out from a thicket and lunging at a horse’s hindquarters. One soldier during the previous year, accidentally stumbled across one and disturbed its calm… He turned out to be quite the good soldier, and successfully grabbed the leopard by the throat and strangled it. But it is an amazingly wonderful animal. Sometimes while travelling you can see it sitting somewhere on a rocky ledge in the sun warming up and even squinting from pleasure. You will fall in love with it right away.
Tigers are encountered less often, and to speak truthfully, these encounters will scare the will out from you. This is a very serious beast that joking around with will end horribly. In the most favorable case, it will completely cripple you, otherwise it will send you from this world. Their strength is enormous. Once I saw a tiger grab a nomad’s cow and throw it onto its back and then jump over a tall fence with ease, as if it was carrying some insignificant weight. They bring much harm to the local population… Their skins are greatly valued: 40-60 rubles for one, if you can get it.
Located in the Kopet Dag Mountains, on the Turkmenistan-Iran border
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Stunning beautiful, the writing and the photographs. Thank you.