▁it ▁fe eds . ▁The ▁decl ine ▁of ▁the ▁Pers ian ▁fall ow ▁de er ' s ▁habitat ▁is ▁also ▁likely ▁to ▁have ▁contributed ▁to ▁increased ▁pressure ▁from ▁pred ators ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁loss ▁of ▁dense ▁areas ▁that ▁can ▁be ▁used ▁as ▁a ▁refuge ▁from ▁pred ators ; ▁this ▁phenomen on ▁has ▁been ▁noted ▁in ▁a ▁similar ▁de er ▁species ▁( white - ta iled ▁de er ). ▁ ▁Natural ▁pred ators ▁of ▁the ▁Pers ian ▁fall ow ▁de er ▁include ▁the ▁golden ▁jack al , ▁the ▁Arab ian ▁w olf , ▁the ▁car ac al , ▁the ▁strip ed ▁hy ena , ▁and ▁the ▁Sy rian ▁brown ▁bear ; ▁however , ▁the ▁primary ▁pred ation ▁pressure ▁on ▁the ▁Pers ian ▁fall ow ▁de er ▁is ▁human ▁po aching . ▁H unted ▁for ▁sport ▁and ▁for ▁food ▁since ▁the ▁early ▁Ne ol ith ic ▁era , ▁the ▁range ▁of ▁the ▁de er ▁was ▁restricted ▁from ▁areas ▁in ▁northern ▁Africa , ▁eastern ▁Europe , ▁and ▁western ▁Asia ▁to ▁only ▁including ▁small ▁regions ▁of ▁western ▁Iran ▁by ▁ 1 8 7 5 . ▁The ▁spread ▁of ▁fire ar ms ▁caused ▁a ▁further ▁increase ▁in ▁de er ▁po aching , ▁dro pping ▁the ▁population ▁size ▁to ▁what ▁was ▁regarded ▁as ▁the ▁de er ' s ▁ext inction ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 4 0 s . ▁ ▁In ters pec ific ▁competition ▁with ▁domestic ▁liv est ock , ▁including ▁cattle , ▁has ▁also ▁further ▁reduced ▁the ▁amount ▁of ▁food ▁available ▁to ▁the ▁de er . ▁A