When scientists from Saudi Arabia’s National Wildlife Center were surveying caves for wildlife in 2022 and 2023, they found something unexpected: seven naturally mummified leopards in five caves near the northern city of Arar. The remains were largely intact with well-preserved soft tissue and skeleton.
Now, analysis of DNA from three mummies has revealed what could help reintroduce leopards to the wilds of the Arabian Peninsula, researchers said.
Leopards once inhabited much of Africa and Asia, but are now found in only 9% of their historic range. It was previously believed that the Asiatic cheetah, known as Acinonyx jubatus veneaticus, was the only subspecies present in Saudi Arabia. The species is now critically endangered with only a small wild population remaining in Iran. Throughout the peninsula, cheetahs were considered locally extinct in the 1970s.
But when the researchers analyzed the three mummies, they found that two of the oldest specimens were genetically closely related to Acinonyx jubatus hecki, a subspecies known as the Northwest African cheetah.
The findings, published in January in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, show that at least two subspecies of cheetah once roamed the Arabian Peninsula. The discovery could help reintroduction efforts as scientists now know which cheetah lineages lived on the peninsula and evidence of their success in the region.
“It was very surprising,” said lead author Ahmed Al Bogh, an environmental researcher and deputy CEO of Saudi Arabia’s National Wildlife Center. “This discovery represents the first documented case of natural mummification in cheetahs, and the first physical evidence of a subspecies of cheetah in the Arabian Peninsula.
“Furthermore, cave use by cheetahs is highly unusual behavior, making the discovery itself and the context in which it occurred completely unexpected,” he added in an email.
Researchers are investigating why leopards entered and used caves; They don’t believe it was accidental or out of loneliness as they neared the end of life. However, the cave’s environment and its super-arid conditions contributed to the leopard’s mummification, Al Bogue said.
Reintroduction of cheetahs in Saudi Arabia
Researchers examine a mummified leopard. – National Wildlife Center
Along with the seven cheetah mummies, researchers found the skeletal remains of 54 more cats inside the cave. The study authors dated five of them and found the oldest to be about 4,000 years old. According to the study, two mummies from around 130 to 1,870 years ago were analyzed. The authors plan to further investigate the remaining mummies and skeletal fragments to potentially identify subspecies of additional specimens, Al Bugg said.
“This discovery is significant as it represents the easternmost record of an African cheetah subspecies and northern Saudi Arabia was occupied by several cheetah lineages over the millennia,” Al Bogue said. “Together, these findings refine our understanding of cheetah landscape use, clarify the timeline of regional extinctions, and improve resolution on the subspecies historically present in the region.”
To identify the subspecies of mummified cheetahs, the authors extracted complete genome sequences from three of the seven remains. It was the first time DNA had been extracted from a naturally mummified leopard or big cat, according to a news release from the journal.
India-based veterinary wildlife expert Adrian Tordiff said it was surprising that some of the leopard remains were only about a century old because it showed that the cats lived in Saudi Arabia much more recently than people realised.
“What’s even more remarkable is that the remains show that different subspecies of leopard lived there at different times,” Tordiff, a lecturer at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, also said in an email. He was not involved in the study.
“This tells us that the Arabian Peninsula was once an important natural bridge for leopards, not an ecological dead end.”
Tordiff added that the discovery gives conservationists clear evidence of which species lived in the region in the distant past. “Because we now know which cheetah lineages live in Arabia, reintroduction efforts can focus on using ecologically compatible animals rather than bringing cheetahs from completely different environments.
“The remains also include young animals and adults, which show that cheetahs were not just passing through, they were breeding and thriving. This tells us that they once supported a full population of cheetahs, especially along with prey species such as gazelles, which are now being successfully restored in Saudi Arabia. This research turns the cheetah into an optimistic plan based on actual evidence based on turf,” he said.
The leopard remains in five caves were mostly intact with well-preserved soft tissues and skeleton. – National Wildlife Center
Wildlife populations in the Arabian Peninsula have historically declined due to human impacts, including overhunting and land-use changes, Al Bogue said. But now, with large, protected areas in the Middle East, many of the primary threats to leopards, such as habitat loss, human disturbance and competition with lions, have diminished, he added. As a result, Al Bogue said he believes Saudi Arabia is well-positioned to support the recovery of a species that was once widespread in the region.
“Demonstrating the time that cheetahs lived in Saudi Arabia shows that they were an important part of the ecosystem and not just passing through,” said Laurie Marker, founder and executive director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization that protects cheetahs from extinction. Marker was not involved in the new study, but the fund is partnered with the National Center for Wildlife for cheetah reintroduction efforts in Saudi Arabia.
“Cheetahs and other top predators play an important role in the ecosystem. Cheetahs are large predators and eat quickly and leave remains for other species to feed on. So where we find top predators there is a greater amount of biodiversity because they feed on other small mammals, birds and insects,” he added in an email.
“As the Saudis bring back their wildlife species, the leopard will be an important addition to the recovery, and bring back a healthy ecosystem to the desert.”
Taylor Nicioli is a freelance journalist based in New York City.
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