Royal Commission for AlUla’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Program welcomes birth of rare triplets

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has announced the birth of a rare litter of three Arabian leopard cubs—two males and one female—marking a major milestone in efforts to safeguard the future of this critically endangered subspecies of big cats, SPA reports.

According to an RCU press release, the triplets were born at the RCU’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Centre this summer. This is the first time three cubs have been born together in captivity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The youngsters are being closely observed by the center's expert team, who are recording their behavior and interactions.

Carefully observed via CCTV so as not to disturb them, the new cubs are already displaying distinctive personalities, with the two males proving to be particularly boisterous, climbing rocks in their enclosure and play fighting with each other. The female, on the other hand, is much shyer and more attached to her mother, according to the RCU release.

The triplets’ parents are a father named Baher and a 6-year-old mother called Ward. Baher, aged approximately 13, is one of two leopards known as Founders, who were brought to the conservation breeding center as part of a regional exchange program to add to the genetic diversity of the population, founding a new bloodline, and thereby increasing the viability of the breeding program. Baher arrived in December 2023.

The RCU added that while records from past decades are imperfect, the cubs are believed to be only the third litter of Arabian leopard triplets born in captivity in roughly the past 30 years, and the first in Saudi Arabia. Currently, the Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Centre is the world’s most successful site for the conservation breeding of Arabian leopards.

The project’s long-term goal is the reintroduction of this iconic big cat into the wild in AlUla. Vital to this is the restoration and rehabilitation of the RCU’s six nature reserves, which are actively contributing to the Saudi Green Initiative’s national commitment to protect 30% of terrestrial and marine areas.

Each of the triplets has received its first vaccinations and health checks that allowed staff to confirm their sexes. They will spend around 18 months with their mother.

The center has enjoyed something of a baby boom recently, with the triplets’ arrival coming less than a month after twin cubs were born earlier in the year.

The births show the continued progress of RCU’s vital work to restore the Arabian leopard population, which the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified as critically endangered since 1996, with roughly 100 estimated to remain in the wild.

RCU’s center welcomed seven births last year and five so far this year. There are currently 32 leopards at the center – more than double the original 14 when the RCU took over the project in 2020.