The Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) 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 Arabian leopard is the smallest leopard subspecies. It was tentatively affirmed as a distinct subspecies by genetic analysis of a single wild leopard from South Arabia, which appeared most closely related to the African leopard.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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CursorialA cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. chee...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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Apex predatorAn apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain and has no natural predators. These animals usually occup...
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Ambush predatorAmbush predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey by stealth, luring, or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an elemen...
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NomadicNomadic animals regularly move to and from the same areas within a well-defined range. Most animals travel in groups in search of better territorie...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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SolitaryNo
Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe Arabian leopard's fur varies from pale yellow to deep golden, tawny, or grey and is patterned with rosettes. It is smaller than both African and Persian leopards. However, it is the largest cat in the Arabian Peninsula.
It is considered that the current range of Arabian leopards is limited to the Arabian Peninsula, including Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. There they live in mountainous uplands and hilly steppes but seldom move to open plains, deserts, or coastal lowlands. They prefer well-vegetated terrain that is difficult for humans to reach. Since the late 1990s, leopards were not recorded in Egypt.
Arabian leopards are mainly nocturnal but may sometimes be active in daylight. In general, leopards are solitary animals. They maintain home ranges that usually overlap with each other. Thus, a male's home range can often overlap with the territories of multiple females. Females live with their cubs in home ranges that overlap extensively and continue to interact with their offspring even after weaning; females may even share kills with their offspring when they can not obtain any prey. Leopards usually hunt on the ground and depend mainly on their acute senses of hearing and vision for hunting. They stalk their prey and try to approach it as closely as possible, typically within 5 m (16 ft) of the target, and, finally, pounce on it and kill it by suffocation. Leopards are known to be excellent climbers and often rest on tree branches during the day, dragging their kills up trees and hanging them there, and descending from trees headfirst. Leopards are also powerful swimmers. They are very agile and can run at over 58 km per hour (36 mph), leap over 6 m (20 ft) horizontally, and jump up to 3 m (9.8 ft) vertically. They produce a number of vocalizations, including grunts, roars, growls, meows, and purrs.
Arabian leopards have a carnivorous diet and seem to concentrate on small to medium prey species, and usually store carcasses of large prey in caves or lairs but not in trees. They mainly prey on Arabian gazelle, Nubian ibex, Cape hares, rock hyraxes, porcupines, Ethiopian hedgehogs, small rodents, birds, and insects. Since local people reduced ungulates to small populations, leopards must alter their diet to smaller prey and livestock such as goats, sheep, donkeys, and young camels.
Leopard cubs are born with closed eyes that open four to nine days later. Generally, leopards have a polygynandrous (promiscuous) mating system, where both males and females mate with several mates. After a gestation period of 13 weeks, females give birth to 2-4 cubs in a cave amidst boulders or in a burrow. Leopard cubs are born with closed eyes that open 4 to 9 days later. Captive-born Arabian leopard cubs emerged from their den for the first time at the age of one month. They are weaned at the age of about 3 months and remain with their mother for up to 2 years.
Arabian leopards are threatened by habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation; prey depletion caused by unregulated hunting; trapping for the illegal wildlife trade and retaliatory killing in defense of livestock. The leopard population has decreased drastically in Arabia as shepherds and villagers kill leopards in retaliation for attacks on livestock. In addition, the hunting of leopard prey species such as hyrax and ibex by local people and habitat fragmentation, especially in the Sarawat Mountains, made the continued survival of the leopard population uncertain. Other reasons for killing these rare animals are personal satisfaction and pride, traditional medicine, and hides. Some leopards are killed accidentally when eating poisoned carcasses intended for Arabian wolves and Striped hyenas.
According to a Wikipedia resource, three confirmed subpopulations of the Arabian leopard remain on the Arabian Peninsula with fewer than 200 individuals. According to the IUCN Red List, the Arabian leopard requires listing as Critically Endangered (CR) due to low population numbers. Currently, the leopard numbers are decreasing.
Leopards are top predators within their natural habitat and play a very important role in the local ecosystem by controlling the numbers and health of their prey species.