The Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr is a Critically Endangered subspecies that roamed in both the northern and the southern mountains of Oman until the 1970s. Today, however, it occurs only in the Dhofar Mountains in the south, where a population of c. 50 remains (Al Hikmani & Spalton, 2023, Oryx, 57, 283–284). In 1985, in an early effort to prevent the Arabian leopard from becoming extinct in the wild, a captive breeding group was established at the Wild Mammal Breeding Centre in Muscat, Oman. This was the first breeding programme for this species. The programme started with four wild-caught Arabian leopards from Jabal Samhan in southern Oman, and the first captive bred Arabian leopard was born in the Centre on 16 May 1989. Between 1989 and 1997 the programme successfully bred and received 10 cubs. However, with an ageing captive group the last cub to be born in the Centre was on 12 February 1997.

The programme was given new impetus in 2015 with the arrival of a wild-caught male from Yemen, joined in 2022 by a female from the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. On 15 February 2023 she gave birth to the centre's first cub in 26 years. The female cub provides new hope for the survival of this Critically Endangered leopard in Oman and across Arabia, as both the wild and captive populations of this subspecies are very small. In addition, as the sire of the cub is a wild-caught Arabian leopard, she may contain some valuable genetic material that can be used to increase the genetic diversity of the captive Arabian leopard population across the region.

Female Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr cub born at the Wild Mammal Breeding Centre, Muscat, Oman on 15 February 2023. Photo: Royal Court Affairs.