As a threatened species populations of Persian gazelle have been declining within the country over the last few decades. The knowledge of gazelle ecology including their feeding habits and habitat associations is central to any kind of conservation effort. The ecology of gazelles in Iran is poorly known and habitat associations of this or other species of gazelles have not been studied in Iran. Habitat use by Persian gazelle was studied over autumn-winter period in its 6000 ha habitat in Bamoo National Park. Habitat use was related to plant communities and vegetation composition by clearance transect pellet group counts carried out every 2 months from September/October 2004 to March/April 2005 using 15 randomly placed 2.5 x 200 m permanent transects. The density of pellet groups was similar in 4 out of 5 plant communities, while in plant community 1, in which Scariola orientalis was the dominant species, it was significantly lower. The density of gazelles was positively associated with three species of bushes (Astragalus spp., Ebenus stellata, Achillea eriophora, P<0.01, P<0.05, P<0.05 respectively) and two species of grass (Poa bulbosa and Aegilops umbellulata, P<0.05) and negatively associated with trichomic Helichrysum leucocephalum (P<0.01), thorny Scariola orientalis (P<0.01), as well as both trichomic and thorny Centaurea virgata (P<0.01). Observations on feeding behaviour showed that gazelles feed on Bromus danthoniae and Stipa barbata during autumn and Astragalus spp., Poa bulbosa, Aegilops umbellulata, and Bromus danthoniae over winter.
