The Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture launches the National Center for Wildlife's program to restore Cheetah in the Kingdom.
On May 3, 2023, His Excellency the Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture and Chairman of the Board of the National Center for Wildlife, Engineer Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli, launched the National Center for Wildlife’s program to reintroduce the Arabian cheetah. This program was announced during a workshop organized by the center to reveal the results of research related to the discovery of the Arabian cheetah, which was previously announced earlier in the year.
The workshop involved the participation of local and international experts and specialists, who discussed the details of the studies and research conducted by the center, including the age of the discovered samples, the cultural and historical dimensions of the cheetahs in the Arabian Peninsula. During the workshop, the launch of the program to reintroduce the Arabian cheetah in the Kingdom and its protection strategy was also announced.
The National Center for Wildlife had previously announced the discovery of the remains of 17 hunting cheetahs in the northern region of the Kingdom, including well-preserved mummies with all their details.
Dr. Mohammed Qurban, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Center for Wildlife, stated that this discovery provided valuable and extensive information for the program of breeding and reintroducing the Arabian cheetah. It corrected many unconfirmed details and positively affected future research related to wildlife. The studies revealed that the ages of the discovered samples varied from 4,000 years to around 120 years, confirming the historical legacy of this species in the Arabian Peninsula as one of the most important components of the region’s wildlife. Genetic structure analyses showed its genuine connection to this land.
Researchers from the center, along with international experts, were able to determine the time of these creatures’ demise, extract their genetic structure, identify them down to the sub-species, and compare their genetic sequence with the cheetahs currently found in the centers and groups around the world. This supports the program that the center is currently working on to breed and reintroduce them in the Kingdom.
The Arabian cheetah is an extinct species in the Arabian Peninsula for over 50 years. The discovered samples indicate that it used to be found in groups in the northern region of the Kingdom. This discovery provides a unique opportunity for the current generation to witness this creature and examine clear remains of it.