Mohammed bin Salman orders the establishment of a Fund to protect the Arabian Leopard

The sub-species unique to the region is critically endangered

Published: December 15, 2020 18:37 Compiled by Nilanjana G. Javed, Senior News Editor and Text by Sara Al Shurafa, Assistant Online Editor

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The Arabian leopard is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive in 2006. The population is severely fragmented. The Arabian leopard's fur varies from pale yellow to deep golden, tawny or gray and is patterned with rosettes. Males have a head to body length of 182–203 cm and weigh about 30 kg. Females are 160–192 cm long and weigh around 20 kg. The Arabian leopard is smaller than both African and Persian leopards. Image Credit: Shuttershock

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Until the late 1960s, the Arabian leopard was widely distributed in the mountains along both the coasts of the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. In the United Arab Emirates, the Arabian leopard was first sighted in 1949 in Jebel Hafeet with occasional sightings being reported in places like Wadi Wurayah. Before the end of the 20th century, sightings were reported in the areas of Jebel Hafeet and Al Hajar Mountains. Image Credit: Shuttershock

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In Oman, leopards were reported to have occurred in the Hajar Mountains until the late 1970s. The largest confirmed sub-population inhabits the Dhofar Mountains in the country's southeast. In the Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve, 17 individual adult leopards were identified between 1997 and 2000 using camera traps. In Yemen, leopards formerly ranged in all mountainous areas of the country, including the western and southern highlands eastwards to the border with Oman. Image Credit: Shuttershock

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The Arabian Leopard is one of the most famous animals in the Arabian Peninsula, and it was included in the list of endangered animals in 1996 The latest information indicates that the remaining numbers of the Arabian leopard do not exceed 200, a decrease of 90% in the Hejaz heights and the Sarawat mountain range, and the presence of the Arabian leopard was also monitored in the mountains of UAE, Oman and Yemen. Image Credit: Shuttershock

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Despite the blazing heat in the summer in the Arabian Peninsula, and the drought and shortage of water and food it suffers from, the Arabian leopard was able to adapt and survive with its bloodline in front of the threat of extinction to this day. It has appeared only four times in Saudi Arabia during the last 25 years, in 1992 in the Al Fara Mountains, 2007 a show up was recorded in Al Namas, southern Saudi Arabia, 2011 in Balharith, and in 2014 in the Numan area of Makkah. Image Credit: Shuttershock

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