علیرضا محمدی

Free-ranging domestic dogs Canis familiaris threaten wildlife species through predation, hybridization, competition for resources, and by contributing to the transmission of pathogens. The impacts of predation may be problematic, but in many regions the interactions of freeranging dogs and wildlife are poorly studied. To determine the extent of the impacts of attacks by free-ranging dogs on Iranian mammals, we reviewed nearly  decades of social and traditional media reports and the scientific literature to gather data from across the country. We identified  freeranging dog attacks ( from academic articles,  from social media, and  from a variety of news websites) from  of the country’s  provinces. Attacks by dogs were reported on  species, including nine Carnivora, six Artiodactyla, one Rodentia, and one Lagomorpha species. Most of the reported attacks on carnivores were on felids, including the Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (n = ), Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx (n = ), caracal Caracal caracal (n = ) and Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul (n = ). Attacks on Artiodactyla were primarily reported for goitered gazelle Gazella subgutturosa (n = ). Most of these attacks occurred within or adjacent to protected areas (n = , %), suggesting that free-ranging dogs are one of the most important human-associated threats to wildlife species even in protected landscapes. The impact of free-ranging dogs may be hampering conservation, and therefore we suggest some practical policy guidance for managing the impacts of free-ranging dogs on threatened species.