Arabian leopards are on the very edge of extinction

The Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr), the second most highly endangered large cat on Earth,There are probably fewer than 100 wild Arabian leopards left in widely scattered populations in Oman and Yemen and, 'Unless drastic action is taken across their range, I'm afraid that the Arabian leopard is not going to make it.'* These beautiful cats are also the smallest and most genetically distinct of all leopard subspecies. Adult females can weigh less than 20 kg and even a "big" male is smaller than the average German shepherd.

Until January 11, 2011 when IUCN proved the existence of a leopard population in eastern Yemen with their trail cameras, skeptics doubted that the leopard persisted in this country. So scarce and secretive are these creatures that so far they have only captured four photographs of two individuals.