Arabian leopard
| Arabian leopard | |
|---|---|
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| Arabian leopard in the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, Sharjah | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | Panthera |
| Species: | P. pardus |
| Subspecies: | P. p. nimr |
| Trinomial name | |
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Panthera pardus nimr (Hemprich and Ehrenberg), 1833 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Panthera pardus jarvisi |
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Panthera pardus jarvisi
(Pocock, 1932)
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 population is severely fragmented. Subpopulations are isolated and not larger than 50 mature individuals. The population is thought to decline continuously.
The Arabian leopard is one of the smallest leopard subspecies. It was tentatively affirmed as a distinct subspecies by genetic analysis from a single captive leopard from Israel of south Arabian origin, which appeared most closely related to the African leopard.
The Arabian leopard has pelage hues that vary from pale yellow to deep golden, tawny or gray and are patterned with rosettes. At a weight of about 30 kg (66 lb) and 182–203 centimetres (5.97–6.66 ft) long for the male and around 20 kg (44 lb) and 160–192 centimetres (5.25–6.30 ft) long for the female, the Arabian leopard is much smaller than the African leopard and other Asian subspecies.
The geographic range of Arabian leopards is poorly understood but generally considered to be limited to the Arabian Peninsula, including Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. They live in mountainous uplands and hilly steppes, but seldom move to open plains, desert or coastal lowlands.
There was a small population in Israel's Negev desert, estimated at 20 in the late 1970s. Leopards were hunted until the early 1960s. By 2002, fewer than 10 isolated individuals were estimated to survive in the Judean Desert and the Negev Highlands.
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Wikipedia