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Edmonds, J.-A.; Budd, K.J.; Vercammen, P.; al Midfa, A.
History of the Arabian leopard captive breeding programme
2006 Cat News (Special Issue 1): 40-43
The Arabian leopard (_Panthera pardus nimr_) is highly endangered and captive breeding has therefore become an essential component of conservation for this species. The Captive Breeding Program has been operating in its present form since 1999 although the first Arabian leopards registered in the studbook were caught in 1985. During the 1990's additional institutions within the range states began to acquire leopards and the need for a coordinated breeding program became a priority. The Regional Studbook was first published in its present form in 1999 and has been followed by several Conservation Assessment and Management workshops through which improved regional cooperation has been initiated. A large proportion of the captive population is wild caught, however, only half of these have produced offspring in captivity. To maximise genetic diversity in the captive population, it is essential that the unrepresented founder animals contribute to the breeding program.
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