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RIYADH: Organizations in Saudi Arabia and abroad marked the International Day of the Arabian Leopard on Monday, raising awareness of efforts to preserve the endangered species.

Historically widespread across the Arabian Peninsula, today there are thought to be fewer than 200 Arabian leopards living in the wild.

Their numbers declined rapidly in the 20th century due to habitat loss and illegal poaching, and they are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Saudi Arabia declared Feb. 10 Arabian Leopard Day in 2022 in a bid to raise awareness.

This was followed in June 2023 by a UN General Assembly declaring Feb. 10 as International Day of the Arabian Leopard.

The Royal Commission for AlUla is implementing one of the Kingdom’s most noteworthy preservation campaigns for the big cat.

“We are honored with the remarkable progress made in safeguarding this majestic species. From the birth of Hope in 2021 to the arrival of seven cubs in 2023 and the exceptional triplets in 2024, each step has been a leap of hope in our conservation efforts,” Royal Commission of AlUla spokesperson Abdulrahman AlTrairi told Arab News.

The commission more than doubled the number of leopards in its Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center to 32 since 2021, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Members of the public are now invited to participate in naming the triplet cubs through the rcu.gov.sa website.

The commission also established the Arabian Leopard Fund, with initial funding worth $25 million to support Arabian leopard conservation efforts in the Kingdom and abroad.

To mark this year’s Arabian Leopard Day, the commission held a conservation event at the London Zoo, attended by Saudi Ambassador to the US Princess Reema bint Bandar.

Princess Reema founded the initiative Catmosphere in 2021, and the organization has held “cat walk” events featuring more than 190,000 people in 136 countries to raise awareness of conservation issues.

Princess Modhi bint Fahd, chairwoman of the Saudi Animal Welfare Society REFQ, shared with Arab News her thanks to the Kingdom’s leadership for their conservation efforts.

“We at REFQ are happy and thrilled to witness the International Day of the Arabian Leopard for an animal that was on the verge of extinction,”

“The credit goes to our great leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he is the man behind all regional environmental and ecological initiatives.”

Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Kyrgyzstan celebrated the occasion with a “cat walk” event in which a number of officials walked through the streets of the capital Bishek to raise awareness of the big cat’s plight.

A similar initiative was held by the Kingdom’s Embassy in Albania, where participants walked from Lake Tirana to the city’s zoo.

High-ranking officials from the Saudi Embassy in Sri Lanka also took part in a cat walk in Colombo.

RIYADH: The Saudi Embassy in Albania marked the International Day of the Arabian Leopard, designated by the UN on Feb. 10.

The celebration on Monday started with a march from a lake in Tirana to the city’s zoo, followed by an official ceremony, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Faisal Ghazi Hifzi, the Saudi ambassador to Albania, said that Riyadh is committed to supporting global environmental initiatives and enhancing cooperation to protect biodiversity, SPA reported.

In 2023, the UN designated Feb. 10 as the International Day of the Arabian Leopard to preserve the endangered wild species.

Known as Panthera pardus nimr, the Arabian leopard is one of the smallest breeds of leopard. Males typically weigh between 30 and 40 kg, while females weigh between 25 and 35 kg. Their fur color is a pale orange with small, spaced spots.

In recent years, the species’ numbers have declined to nearly 200 in Oman, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. This sharp decrease in the Arabian Peninsula is attributed to habitat loss, a reduction in the availability of prey, attacks by herders, and illegal trade in wild species.

The Kingdom has been at the forefront of preserving and breeding the species at AlUla’s nature reserves in the western region.

Since 2021, Saudi Arabia has preserved and bred 14 Arabian leopards at AlUla’s nature reserves, doubling their number to 32 by 2024, SPA added.