Content uploaded by Hadi Al Hikmani
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Hadi Al Hikmani on Aug 20, 2015
Content may be subject to copyright.
CATnews 60 Spring 2014
15
original contribution
HADI AL HIKMANI1* AND KHALID AL HIKMANI1
First photographic record of
twin Arabian leopards in the
wild
Evidence on Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr reproduction in the wild is very
scarce. Very few records are available and most of them are of single Arabian leop-
ard cubs. However, a camera-trap record of 8 February 2013, from Jabal Samhan Na-
ture Reserve, was remarkable as it provided the first photographic record of twin
Arabian leopard cubs in the wild.
The Arabian leopard is Critically Endangered
in the wild and either locally extinct or close
to local extinction throughout its range
(Spalton & Hikmani 2006). The most recent
studbook showed 82 leopards in captivity in
the region at the end of 2011 (Budd 2011).
Though leopards have bred successfully
in captivity very little is known about their
breeding behaviour in the wild. The general
understanding is that like other leopard sub-
species, the Arabian leopard can produce
one to three cubs per litter, but often usu-
ally only one cub is thought to survive to
maturity in the wild. Even in captivity with
intensive management and probably better
health conditions, the number of Arabian
leopard cubs that survive to independence
is still relatively low. Budd & Leus (2011)
reported that of the 93 Arabian leopard
cubs (55 litters) born in captivity around 32
% died within a year and of these 63% (19
cubs) were in litters of more than one cub.
In addition some cubs were abandoned and
hand to be hand-reared.
There are reports of twin cubs being seen
but only one was confirmed when the au-
thor saw a female and two young at a kill in
Jabal Samhan. Camera traps have recorded
single cubs, accompanied by their mother,
on three occasions but never twins. Here,
we report the first photographic record of
Arabian leopard twin cubs in the wild.
Details of the record
0n 8 February 2013 at 18:15 h, Arabian leop-
ard twin cubs were photographed playing
with their mother at a camera trap station in
Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve. The mother
and her cubs spent almost three hours at the
spot until they all left together at 21:17 h.
The mother was then photographed the fol-
lowing day at 19:46 h, but without her cubs.
The cubs were estimated to be 9 -10 months
old.
Just over one year earlier, on 3 January
2012, the cubs’ mother, accompanied by
a male leopard, had passed a camera trap
some 5 km to the west. Subsequently she
was photographed, at the same camera trap
station on 29 January and 6 February 2012.
On both occasions she was alone but the
camera trap showed the same male was
close-by suggesting that the pair may have
come together for breeding. She was next
photographed on 21 June when she did not
appear pregnant.
If her association with the male had led to
successful breeding then with an estimated
gestation of 100 days the cubs would have
been born in April or May 2012. In June
she would have left her cubs hidden while
hunting alone. When the cubs were pho-
tographed on 8 February 2013 they would
have been approximately 9-10 months old.
These recent photographs of Arabian leop-
ard cubs and their mother provide not just an
exciting first record of twinning in the wild
but also help in the understanding of their
ecology in the mountains of southern Oman.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the National Field Re-
search Center for Environmental Conservation
of Oman and Earthwatch Institute, UK for their
financial and logistic support on the leopard
project. We would also like to thank Dr Andrew
Spalton, Tessa McGregor, Dr James Burton and
the rangers of the leopard project for their as-
sistance.
Reference
Budd, J. 2011. International studbook for the Ara-
bian leopard. Report 7, 1-48. Sharjah, United
Arab Emirates, Breeding Centre for Endan-
gered Arabian Wildlife.
Budd, J. & Leus, K. 2011. The Arabian leopard
Panthera pardus nimr conservation breeding
programme. Biodiversity Conservation in the
Arabian Peninsula. Zoology in the Middle
East, Supplementum 3, 141-150.
Spalton, J.A. & al Hikmani, H. 2006. The leop-
ard in the Arabian Peninsula: distribution and
subspecies Status. Cat News Special Issue 1,
4-8.
1 Office for Conservation of the Environment,
Diwan of Royal Court, P.O. Box 246 Muscat 100,
Sultanate of Oman
*<hadidofar @gmail.com>
Fig. 1. Photograph of Arabian leopard cubs and their mother in Jabal Samhan Nature
Reserve on 8 February 2013 (Photo H. al Hikmani & K. al Hikmani).
