Conservation challenges for the Arabian Leopard (
            <i>Panthera pardus nimr</i>
            ) in the Western Highlands of Arabia

Islam, M. Zafar-ul; Boug, Ahmed al; Judas, Jacky; As-Shehri, Abdullah

doi:10.1080/14888386.2018.1507008

Cited by 12 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Overgrazing has a direct impact on environmental deterioration, erosion, and the reduction of vegetation cover. Grazing is rooted in local culture along with logging as numerous local communities value it more than wildlife and natural resources due to lack of tangible benefits derived from conservation [1,8]. In addition, fuelwood is in high demand despite the existence of alternative fuel resources [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, fuelwood is in high demand despite the existence of alternative fuel resources [9]. Consequently, habitat destruction and land degradation has caused resources competition among domestic livestock and wildlife species [8]. Collectively, the lack of support from local communities is a major factor for conservation inadequacies and high decline of wildlife [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies and government reports further report that the system is not well managed and the benefits, such as providing recreational opportunities for the public, increasing environmental awareness, improving community quality of life, and protecting wildlife are neglected [1,2,4,[6][7][8][9][10]. A key reason is the lack of unified guidelines to simultaneously direct the management, implement assigned activities, integrate matching policies, and to overcome the lack of environmental compliance and awareness [1,3,4,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stakeholder Perspectives Towards National Parks and Protected Areas in Saudi Arabia

Al-Tokhais

Thapa

2019

Sustainability

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There is a genuine need to examine stakeholders’ perception of biodiversity conservation and tourism development due to overlapping roles and conflicting priorities among key governmental agencies in Saudi Arabia. The need to understand the role of each stakeholder group will assist to support policy formulation and implementation, along with effective practices. Within this context, the purpose of this study was to examine stakeholder perspectives towards National Parks and Protected Areas in Saudi Arabia. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 11 stakeholders’ representative of public, private, and non-governmental organizations from the tourism and conservation community. Findings revealed four main themes—tourism development, management issues, development challenges, and policy concerns. In addition, multiple sub-themes within each were further categorized. Overall, findings highlight the need to form a foundation for sustainable tourism development that aims to conserve biodiversity and provide opportunities for local communities to ensure economic growth. Implications for development in National Parks and Protected Areas in Saudi Arabia are also noted.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stakeholder Perspectives Towards National Parks and Protected Areas in Saudi Arabia

Al-Tokhais

Thapa

2019

Sustainability

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“…Previous studies have highlighted poaching of leopards and their prey, and habitat loss, as the main reasons for the decline of leopards across most of their range in Asia (Farhadinia et al, 2015; Jacobson et al, 2016; Rostro-García et al, 2016; Wang et al, 2016; Zafar-ul Islam et al, 2018). We identify four main challenges for the conservation of transboundary populations of Asian leopards: (1) different levels of legal protection and management across national jurisdictions, (2) military activities and armed conflict, (3) poaching for illegal international wildlife trade and (4) infrastructure projects, such as road development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Across the Oman–Yemen border in Hawf, leopards were recorded in low numbers in 2011 (Khorozyan et al, 2014). Elsewhere, there are thought to be a few scattered areas of extant range for the Arabian leopard along the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia (Zafar-ul Islam et al, 2018).…”

Section: Transboundary Rangesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Big cats in borderlands: challenges and implications for transboundary conservation of Asian leopards

Farhadinia

Rostro‐García

Feng

et al. 2020

Oryx

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Large carnivores have extensive spatial requirements, with ranges that often span geopolitical borders. Consequently, management of transboundary populations is subject to several political jurisdictions, often with heterogeneity in conservation challenges. In continental Asia there are four threatened leopard subspecies with transboundary populations spanning 23 countries: the Persian Panthera pardus saxicolor, Indochinese P. pardus delacouri, Arabian P. pardus nimr and Amur P. pardus orientalis leopards. We reviewed the status of these subspecies and examined the challenges to, and opportunities for, their conservation. The Amur and Indochinese leopards have the majority (58–100%) of their remaining range in borderlands, and the Persian and Arabian leopards have 23–26% of their remaining ranges in borderlands. Overall, in 18 of 23 countries the majority of the remaining leopard range is in borderlands, and thus in most countries conservation of these subspecies is dependent on transboundary collaboration. However, we found only two transboundary initiatives for Asian leopards. Overall, we highlighted three key transboundary landscapes in regions that are of high importance for the survival of these subspecies. Recent listing of the leopard in the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals is important, but more international collaboration is needed to conserve these subspecies. We provide a spatial framework with which range countries and international agencies could establish transboundary cooperation for conserving threatened leopards in Asia.

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The decline of the Arabian Leopard Panthera pardus nimr in Saudi Arabia: a values-based plan for future management

Islam,

Smith,

Boug

2024

Biodivers Conserv

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The Critically Endangered Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) has declined to near extinction in Saudi Arabia over the last fifteen or so years. In this paper we provide a time-series assessment of changes in the rate of leopard records since the 1930’s and provide a values-based plan for the management of the species in Saudi Arabia. The number of leopard records rose sharply in the 1960’s, peaking in the early 2000s, a time where human population growth and expansion across Saudi Arabia was also increasing. However, by 2014, the number of leopard records decreased to zero where it has remained. Based upon a clear need for effective conservation of the species, we developed a values-based management plan. In applying the planning framework, we defined the management system and its elements in their current state and the required state by the year 2050. From this work, a value-based goal was established, and four key management activities were recognised (and are expanded upon in the main text). We recommend that work is done to: (1) Ensure sufficient and suitable (in terms of required habitat and prey availability) areas are protected. (2) Reduce the level of human-based predation upon leopards to ensure sustainable mortality rates. (3) Manage the species metapopulation structure in terms of genetic makeup through natural and/or facilitated movement. (4) Continue to build community capacity and willingness to manage and protect the species. If these activities can be successfully completed, a population of Arabian Leopards can exist in Saudi Arabia if it is adaptively managed to deal with any additional and/or emerging threatening processes.

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Conservation challenges for the Arabian Leopard ( Panthera pardus nimr ) in the Western Highlands of Arabia

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

Stakeholder Perspectives Towards National Parks and Protected Areas in Saudi Arabia

Stakeholder Perspectives Towards National Parks and Protected Areas in Saudi Arabia

Big cats in borderlands: challenges and implications for transboundary conservation of Asian leopards

The decline of the Arabian Leopard Panthera pardus nimr in Saudi Arabia: a values-based plan for future management

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