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INTRODUCTION |
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The Arabian leopard (Panthera
pardus nimr), or nimr in Arabic, is the largest
surviving cat species in the Arabian Peninsula and once
occurred throughout the mountainous regions of Jordan,
Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
In Oman the leopard is classified as Critically
Endangered and is protected from hunting and capture. It
was once widespread in Musandam, the Hajar mountain
range and the mountains of Dhofar. Severely persecuted
by man, the leopard disappeared from the Hajar mountains
in the 1970s. Multi-disciplined surveys in these regions
confirmed that by the early 1980s few animals remained
in Musandam and none in the Hajar mountains, but that
leopard were still present in Dhofar.
In 1997 the Office of the Adviser for Conservation of
the Environment commenced a survey to assess the status
of the Arabian leopard in the Jabal Samhan Nature
Reserve in Dhofar, southern Oman.
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عربي |
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Jabal Samhan Reserve |
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In the 1980s the continued
persecution of the leopard and the need to safeguard the
species led to the proposal to establish a captive group
at His Majesty's Bait al Barakah Breeding Centre for
Omani Mammals just outside Muscat.
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Arabian Leopard |
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Leopards are among the most
adaptable animals in the world. As a family, they occur
from the jungles of southeast Asia to the high, cold
mountains of the Himalayas, and from the deserts of
Arabia to the bush of Africa.
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Survey |
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In September 1997 a ground survey
was conducted to find and document signs of leopard
presence. These signs included territorial scrapes,
faeces, urination, scent spraying and evidence of kills.
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Camera-trapping |
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Following the successful use by
David Willis of pressure plates to trigger cameras for
photographing Arabian leopard a commercially available
camera system (Trailmaster Inc. USA) was modified for
use in Jabal Samhan.
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Leopard 'short tail' |
Snow Leopard |
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