For the love of the leopard

For the love of the leopard

The last confirmed sighting of an Arabian leopard in the wild was in 2014. The animal was dead, poisoned by a camel herder.

You could see that as a low point. The leopard, which used to roam from the mountains of Anatolia to the shores of the Red Sea, is now confined to a few remote places in Oman, Yemen, the UAE and the KSA. When it encounters humans and their livestock, the inevitable result is fatal.

Maybe that leopard didn’t die in vain, though. It proved that leopards were still present, albeit in heartbreakingly small numbers, in the Arabian Peninsula. In the years since, a huge and inspiring international effort has begun to conserve, breed and then release leopards back into the wild.

But what kind of game? It’s not just hunters and farmers who have pushed leopards to their limits for survival. The great Arabian desert has become more and more desert, as overgrazing by goats and camels robs the land. The species on which leopards depend for prey have themselves been driven further towards extinction.

To bring the leopard back, it must first reintroduce its prey: a gazelle in the Sharan nature reserves of AlUla

/ David chancellor

In AlUla, an area of ​​incredible natural beauty and priceless heritage in northwestern Saudi Arabia, they are preparing a home for the leopard. This starts with developing protected areas: currently AlUla has five nature reserves covering 50% of the county (about 12,500 km2). The goal is to increase that to 85%, good for 20,000 km2.

Wildlife recovery efforts will focus on the best and most suitable 65,000 hectares for wildlife, repopulating these zones with prey species such as onyx and ibex. Once habitat and grazing animals are restored, and only then, conservationists can start thinking about releasing leopards from centers such as the Royal Commission for AlUla’s (RCU) breeding facility in Taif.

One of the leopards in the Taif breeding in Saudi Arabia

/ David chancellor

Southeast of AlUla, you can see some of the best preserved examples of prehistoric rock art anywhere. The UNESCO-protected site of Shuwaymis dates back 10,000 years and captures vivid scenes of the hunting and domestic animals with which people shared their lives: there are horses and camels, as well as lions, which disappeared from the peninsula long ago.

There are also vivid depictions of leopards, recognizable by their long tails, flat facial profile and stalking pose. The fervent hope is that the leopard will not join the lion, ostrich and other species as “just memories, poetic texts or engravings on stone,” in the words of Hani Tatwany, CEO of the Arabian Leopard Fund.

Tatwany and his fellow conservationists know that the battle to save the leopard begins at ground level. Native vegetation produced at RCU’s nursery will provide food for herbivores, the leopard’s main prey. Earlier this year, 162 animals – including Arabian oryx, Arabian sand gazelle and Nubian ibex – were reintroduced to three reserves.

Arabian Leopard: Facts and Figures

First and last name: Panthera pardus nimr

Estimated number of Arabian leopards in the wild: less than 200

The Arabian leopard is the smallest of the leopard family, but the largest cat in the Arabian Peninsula.

Males weigh about 30 kg, females 20 kg.

90%: Estimated habitat loss of leopards in Saudi Arabia since the early 1800s

1949: British explorer and writer Wilfred Thesiger sees a leopard on the border of Oman and the UAE

1987 and 2007: The last confirmed sightings in Jordan and Israel respectively

USD 25 million: Donation made by the RCU to the Arabian Leopard Fund to support its conservation efforts

These ungulates are monitored to see how they adjust to their new home. Adaptation means constantly moving to new pasture areas without depriving the land of its young trees and plants. That behavior is driven by fear of predators: that’s why you need apex predators like leopards and other carnivores.

Sixty years ago, a wildlife artist sketched a giant panda. It was approved by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and became a global symbol for the urgent action we must take if thousands of species are not lost due to human action.

The leopard image has now become an equally powerful symbol of the RCU’s extensive efforts to restore balance to the indigenous landscape of northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Now let’s listen to the people most involved in this groundbreaking effort to save not just an animal, but an entire ecosystem:

My first encounter with an Arabian leopard was over 25 years ago when I heard its distinctive saw-like call in a remote limestone mountain in southern Arabia. But it was several years and many long walks later when I caught a fleeting glimpse of a leopard running away from me through towering boulders and frankincense trees. It was so short that I doubted what I had seen. But in those few seconds, I was struck not only by how small the leopard was, but also by its stillness and how it moved effortlessly.

The text I wrote is not science or conservation, but the story of the half-million-year journey the leopard traveled from Africa and its ancient ancestors to its home in the deserts and mountains of Arabia.

Andrew Spalton, author, Arabian Leopard

To thrive in the wild, big cats need two things. They need large spaces and they need feeding. If you have adequate land and prey density, big cats can thrive as long as you take away the human component of the poaching.

And that’s what Alula stands for. The Sharan Reserve has these unique and critical ecosystems. When Saudi Arabia determined that they wanted to bring back the Arabian leopard, it was a monumental decision as it was a commitment to the entire landscape.

The Arabian leopard will not die out under our watch and that of the Saudi government. I have a lot of confidence in that.

Thomas Kaplan, Chairman, Panthera

The Arabian Leopard is a powerful symbol of our goal to preserve and protect the natural environment of AlUla through far-reaching efforts to protect the natural flora and fauna of this incredible part of Northwestern Arabia.

Amr AlMadani, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Commission for AlUla

Watching this extraordinary leopard wake up at dawn under a desert dawn, the morning light slowly strokes golden lines across its shape, searing the moment into my soul before slipping away. The Arabian leopard has long stood for beauty, tranquility, physical strength, fearlessness and freedom.

The leopard is critical to protecting our planet and preserving the natural balance of our global ecosystems. As someone recently said to me ‘what do we have but hope?’

David Chancellor, photographer

Arabian Leopard is published by Assouline. Two editions of the books are available – a Classic and an Ultimate – featuring original artwork and photographs capturing the enduring spirit of the Arabian leopard

Assouline