Bigcats News

[BorneanTiger]

@Lycaon Forward from (https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-animal-...5#pid80365), in case the Arabian leopard does reappear in the UAE, the place to watch out for is the eastern region on the border with Oman and the Gulf of Oman on the Arabian Sea, where Jebel Hafeet (near Al Ain City) and the Hajar Mountains are. The first known sighting of the leopard in what is now the UAE was at Hafeet Mountain in 1949 by the British explorer Sir Wilfried Thesieger, and then Hellyer (1993) reported that another was shot and wounded there in 1976, and then there were subsequent sightings, at least as reported, up to 2001 in other areas, within the Hajar region, including Ras Al Khaimah in the north: http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/fileshari...irates.pdf, http://www.yemenileopard.org/files/cms/r...eopard.pdf

Map of the UAE, with the rugged area in the east being the Hajar Mountains: http://ontheworldmap.com/uae/uae-road-map.html 

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Jabal Hafeet (Hafeet Mountain) near Al Ain City in Abu Dhabi Emirate, not the UAE's highest mountain, but the only mountain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (this news article talks about unique species being discovered there): https://gulfnews.com/uae/environment/uni...-1.1202677

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Hajar Mountains near Ras Al Khaimah, including the UAE's highest mountain, Jabal Jais, which has the World's longest zipline, in the Musandam Peninsula (where the leopard had been recorded, at least up to the 2000s: http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/fileshari...irates.pdf, http://www.yemenileopard.org/files/cms/r...eopard.pdf): https://gulfbusiness.com/maintenance-und...-accident/

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Wadi Wurayah, Emirate of Fujairah, where the leopard is still rumoured to be (https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environme...h-1.650338, https://gulfnews.com/uae/environment/une...-1.2257589), but otherwise, it is possible that a leopard track was photographed here on the 15th of September 2007 (http://www.yemenileopard.org/arabian-leopard.html). Image supplied to Gulf News: https://gulfnews.com/uae/environment/une...-1.2257589

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As for Oman, which also shares the Hafeet and Hajar Mountains and the Musandam Peninsula (in the northeast of the map above), so far, the only leopards there are known to be in the southern Dhofari region, next to Yemen, where leopards were also reported (http://www.yemenileopard.org/files/cms/r...eopard.pdf), but signs of the leopard in the Musandam Peninsula were reported in January and February 2007: http://www.yemenileopard.org/arabian-leopard.html Reply