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Nature and Wildlife
In a hopeful sign for the program, six cubs have been born since last year’s International Arabian Leopard Day on 10 February. Image courtesy the Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Centre, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Safeguarding the shadows of the desert
By Michael Webster
Briefly …
With fewer than 120 Arabian leopards remaining in the wild, the Royal Commission for AlUla is leading an ambitious breeding and rewilding program. From scientific partnerships to habitat regeneration in Sharaan National Park, AlUla is positioning conservation not as an accessory to tourism, but as its foundation.
In the sandstone valleys of AlUla, the Arabian leopard (the smallest subspecies of the leopard family) once moved like a shadow through the ancient desert landscapes. Today, with fewer than 120 Arabian leopards believed to remain in the wild, that shadow has almost disappeared. Classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the subspecies – Panthera pardus nimr – has suffered decades of habitat loss, hunting, and prey depletion across the Arabian Peninsula.
In this vast desert region a determined effort is underway to change that trajectory. At the heart of the work is the Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Centre in Taif, the world’s only active conservation-breeding facility dedicated solely to this subspecies. Since 2020, the number of leopards under care has more than doubled, and in a hopeful sign for the program, six cubs have been born since last year’s International Arabian Leopard Day on 10 February.
This is not, however, simply about numbers. It is about rebuilding the ecological foundations that would one day allow the leopard to return to landscapes where it belongs. As part of that wider mission, the Royal Commission for AlUla has partnered with Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), drawing on decades of global experience in recovering more than 25 rare and endangered species.
“This partnership allows us to do what we do best – apply science to help bring a species back from the brink of extinction,” said Brandie Smith, John and Adrienne Mars Director at NZCBI. “Building on recovery efforts already underway, we’re translating that science into action to help people understand what’s at stake.”
In Sharaan National Park, preparations are advancing for the first phase of a dedicated Arabian Leopard Rewilding Centre. The ambition is not only to care for leopards, but to restore balance by rebuilding prey populations, strengthening fragile desert ecosystems, and preparing the ground for eventual reintroduction. It is a reminder that conservation is rarely a single-site effort. It is collaborative, cumulative and often generational.
Naif Al Malik, Vice President of Wildlife and Natural Heritage at the Royal Commission for AlUla, frames the work in long arcs of time. “The Arabian Leopard is part of AlUla’s natural heritage, and our responsibility to protect it is generational. The progress achieved through breeding, habitat restoration, and ecosystem recovery reflects years of careful, science-led conservation.”
“The Arabian Leopard is part of AlUla’s natural heritage, and our responsibility to protect it is generational. The progress achieved through breeding, habitat restoration, and ecosystem recovery reflects years of careful, science-led conservation.”
Phillip Jones, Chief Tourism Officer at the Royal Commission for AlUla, puts it plainly: “Protecting the Arabian Leopard is a shared responsibility that begins with regenerating and safeguarding our landscapes and extends to how we welcome travellers into those places with care.”
One of the six cubs that have been born since last year’s International Arabian Leopard Day. Image courtesy the Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Centre, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
AlUla’s conservation narrative is inseparable from its cultural one. At Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the remains of ancient kingdoms speak to millennia of human presence. The effort to protect biodiversity here is framed not as an add-on, but as an extension of heritage protection, and safeguarding the leopard becomes an integral element of safeguarding place itself.
To walk a desert trail in Sharaan with a guide, to understand how prey species are being re-established, and to learn that somewhere beyond the visible ridgeline a breeding program is quietly expanding the subspecies’ future, this is where the journey becomes a totally different kind of wildlife ‘moment’. For solo travellers whose passions include nature and wildlife in deep and complex ways, the experience becomes personal.
As demand grows for travel shaped by sustainability and mindfulness, AlUla is positioning itself not simply as a destination of spectacle, but as a landscape in recovery. The Arabian leopard may still be elusive, but its survival is no longer left to chance alone.
To learn more, visit the Experience AlUla website here.
Michael Webster is The Solo Traveller Group’s International Community Development Lead.