IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Spalton, J.A.; al Hikmani, H.M. | |
| The leopard in the Arabian Peninsula - Distribution and Subspecies Status | |
| 2006 Cat News (Special Issue 1): 4-8 | |
Historically it was considered that there were four subspecies of leopards in the Arabian region. Today _P. p. jarvisi _no longer occurs and the ranges of _P. p. tulliana _and _P. p. saxicolor _have severely contracted north. Only _P. p. nimr_, the Arabian leopard, remains. Morphological data suggests nimr to be the smallest of the leopards and a distinct subspecies but this has yet to be conclusively confirmed by genetic evidence. Recent records give a bleak picture of the status of _P. p. nimr_. A few individuals survive in the Judean Desert and Negev Highlands while in the Arabian Peninsula leopards are known from just one location in the Republic of Yemen and one in the Sultanate of Oman. In Yemen the leopards of the Al Wada'a area are under great pressure from killing and from capture for trade. In Oman the situation is much more hopeful and the leopards of the Dhofar Mountains have benefited from comprehensive conservation measures. While the possibility, however remote, of the existence of other relict populations cannot be ruled out the need for urgent conservation action across the region is obvious given the reality that the Arabian leopard may soon be reduced to two, or even just one population in the wild. |
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