Undoubtedly the most famous mammal of today is the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr). The reason for its present fame is sadly, that it is on the brink of extinction. A spate of killings by hunters in the early 1990s triggered a conservation effort, spearheaded by the Arabian Leopard Trust, which aims at preserving the mountain habitat with all its wildlife. At about 30 kgs for the male and around 20 kgs for the female, the Arabian leopard is much smaller than most of the African and Asian races. Very light in colour, the deep golden yellow between the black rosettes is only present on the animal's back, whilst the rest of the body is beige to greyish-white. Leopards are not animals of the open desert and only occur in the mountains, where permanent water sources exist. In this arid terrain they require large territories in order to find enough food, which means that even at the best of times there have never been many leopards in this area. As they are solitary animals, the territory is fiercely defended against intruders. Whilst the area of a male might overlap with the territories of several females, no other animal of the same sex is allowed near what the leopard considers to be the core of its range.
((Note: Nimr is the Arabic word for Leopard)) |
