The RCU, which runs the Taif breeding centre, has established a $25-million fund to protect the Arabian leopard.ĭr Ahmed Almalki, the Royal Commission's nature reserves director, said the birth represented “one step further towards reviving the Arabian leopard”. It was established to protect the area, which is culturally significant as well as being renowned for its natural history. The cub’s birth was announced by the Royal Commission for Al Ula. The Sharaan Nature Reserve in Al Ula in Saudi Arabia, where it is hoped that Arabian leopards will once again roam free. Restoring nature's balance © Provided by The National
The aim is to use the captive-breeding programme to support the reintroduction of the creatures to Al Ula, a 22,561 square-kilometre area of desert and mountains in north-west Saudi Arabia. Previously it roamed in mountainous areas of Ras al Khaimah and Fujairah as well as in many other parts of the Arabian Peninsula and even the Levant. Typically slightly paler than its African cousin, the Arabian leopard is known as An Nimr Al Arabi in Arabic and has, along with other mammals such as camels, been depicted in ancient rock art in Saudi Arabia.Ĭlassified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the subspecies is found in the wild in Oman, Yemen and, possibly, Saudi Arabia. Habitat loss, decline of prey species and persecution have caused the number of Arabian leopards to fall for centuries and there are now thought to be fewer than 200 in the wild.īut ambitious plans to reintroduce the creatures to north-west Saudi Arabia offer hope that they could become more widespread in the wild once again. The female cub was born at the Prince Saud Al-Faisal Wildlife Research Centre near Taif in south-west Saudi Arabia on April 23 and was checked by vets and her sex identified in mid-July. Photo: Aline CoquelleĪn Arabian leopard cub has been born at a captive breeding centre in Saudi Arabia – a step forward in conserving this critically endangered subspecies.
Habitat loss, persecution and the decline of prey species have caused the number of Arabian leopards to fall.