The Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr is Critically Endangered and endemic to the Arabian Peninsula. Once widespread across the mountainous areas of the region, it now occurs only in small and fragmented populations in Oman, Yemen and possibly Saudi Arabia, although there have been no confirmed records in the latter country since 2014. The Oman population, although small (c. 50 individuals), is considered stable, but there is little accurate information on the status of leopards in Yemen. The illegal killing of leopards continues in some areas in the south and south-east of the country, with reports since 2021 from Lawdar in Abyan, north of Lahij and Ad Dali. All are areas with ongoing civil conflict.
The leopard also occurs in the mountains of Hawf in eastern Yemen, close to the international border with Oman and outside the conflict zone. Following the report of two leopards killed in Hawf in 2014 there were no further reports until recently. Photographs posted on social media showed one animal killed in November 2022 and one in January 2023. Both killings were apparently in response to livestock depredation.
Persecution of leopards in response to actual or perceived livestock predation is one of the major causes of the local extinction of this subspecies from most of its former range. Although conservation interventions have mitigated leopard persecution in Oman, this is not the case in Yemen. Most worrying are the recent reports from Hawf, as it is outside the conflict zone. If killings continue, the remaining small population of the leopard in Hawf could be lost. The estimated global population of the Arabian leopard is < 200 and the species is on the edge of extinction in the wild. Regional interest in the conservation of the subspecies is high and the leopards of Yemen's Hawf mountains are an opportunity for urgent conservation intervention.
An Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr caught on a camera trap in Dhofar, southern Oman (photo: Hadi Al Hikmani).
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