In our continuing series on Arabian Wildlife, Zac Sharpe takes a look at the wild cats found in the UAE and Arabian Gulf

There is a rock drawing in Saudi Arabia's Nefud desert of a hunter spearing a lion in the chest.

The Arabian Peninsula is well known for its desert landscape and the animals usually associated with such inhospitable terrain - roaming camels, sidewinding snakes and perhaps the odd oryx or two.

But very few people are aware that the deserts which span much of the UAE and the mountains which run the length of the country's east coast are also the natural habitat of wild cats. More often associated with the African savanna, there are limited numbers of wild cats which, over thousands of years, have migrated to and evolved with the barren terrain of the Arabian Peninsula.

Petroglyphs of unmistakably maned lions in the north of Saudi Arabia, about 100 kilometres north of Hail, are estimated to be about two thousand years old. While the last lions found in the Middle East were killed earlier this century, in Iraq near the Tigris River in 1918 and as late as 1942 in Persia, early Biblical literature describes an Arabia with relatively rich vegetation and a population of Asiatic lions, wolves and leopards.

Times have undoubtedly changed. What an altered climate and environment have not driven from the region has been either hunted close to oblivion by man or displaced from its habitat by encroaching civilisation. But the wild cat by its very nature is a hardy creature and today there are still a number of species of cat surviving, if not thriving, in the Arabian desert and the rocky and rugged Hajjar mountains.

At least some of the credit for the survival of the wild cats must be bestowed upon the small but influential team of environmentalists from the Arabian Leopard Trust (ALT). The ALT plays a part in studying, nurturing and protecting a host of wild cats, including the sand cat, Gordon's wild cat and the prolific caracal.

But undoubtedly the most famous of the Arabian cats is the ALT's inspiration, the Arabian leopard. Sadly, much of its fame derives from its relegation to little more than a captive breeding experiment and zoo exhibit. Courtesy of a spate of killings by hunters in the early 1990s, there are only an estimated ten Arabian leopards living in their natural mountain habitat.

Probably the most prominent environmental group in the UAE, the ALT's efforts at preserving the Hajjar mountain range and the wildlife that clings to its crags and ledges is largely responsible for the existence of the few leopards which have evaded the hunter's and tribesman's bullet.

Field researcher for the organisation, Moaz Sawaf, attributed much of the blame for the leopard's demise on the local tribesman whose small flocks of livestock are sometimes threatened by the hungry cats.

"The older tribesmen of the mountains do not understand how it could be important to save the last of the Arabian leopards. They simply see them as a nuisance which can be justifiably eradicated," said Moaz.

The ALT have leopards in captivity but if the animal is to survive in the wild it is the trust's other endeavours which will prove the leopard's saviour. "Educating the local population of the importance of saving the animals is their best hope for the future," stressed Moaz.

"The younger people seem to understand that the leopard's survival could prove beneficial to their own future but it is much harder to sway the opinions of the tribal elders who simply see the big cats as the opposition in the food chain. They don't mind saving the gazelles but don't see the point in saving the cats."

The ALT has gone to great lengths to seek national park status for the Hajjar mountains. Such status would help preserve the environment while offering opportunities for locals in conservation and tourism related jobs.

This would represent a major shift in official policy from the days when a hunter in Ras Al Khaimah was paid a staggering Dh 30,000 for the pelt of a large male leopard. No laws have yet been introduced to penalise those who kill the rare cat, but a message was sent to the hunters in later years when the ruling family which had made the original payment turned away hunters offering another leopard skin.

Proof that locals can adapt to the prevailing attitudes towards wildlife in general, and the leopard in particular, is found in Oman. A law has been in effect for 21 years prohibiting the killing of endangered fauna. While killings still occur, stiff fines introduced in 1996 serve as a deterrent while the gossip bandied around during traditional meetings in the majlis serves as a community watchdog.

An ALT captive breeding program revolving around 'Arnold', a leopard rescued from a life of misery in a cage in a Yemen market place, and 'Lucy' who arrived from another breeding centre in Oman, has had mixed success. Not until Lucy's fourth litter did one of the cubs survive to maturity. But in Oman such programs have offered cause for optimism with at least eight living offspring had arrived by 1998.

The leopard's prospects for survival, however, rest with the success of education and the protection of the species in the wild. Whatever the results of captive breeding programmes, there are no plans to release the animals into the wild at this stage. A combination of cost and practicality have so far put paid to any plans to release and monitor the progress of a captive-bred leopard.

"To release an animal into the wild would require a complicated and expensive satellite tracking device to be fitted to the animal to ensure it survived after so many years of being raised in captivity," said Moaz.

"A collar has to be mounted to the animal which could relay information about its range, speed of travel and information as specific as its heart beat." "Although there are a lot of factors to consider before tracking a released animal, monitoring by satellite is something we have considered doing to an animal already in the wild. But that presents its own problems. It is rare enough to even see or photograph a leopard but how do you go about actually trapping one," asked Moaz.

The populations of the Arabian leopard have never been overly abundant in the Hajjar mountains. Limited water resources have always kept the availability of prey, such as the tahr and mountain gazelle, to a premium. But those that have survived have adapted to the environment well.

At about 30 kilograms for the male and around 20 kg for the female, the Arabian leopard is much smaller than its African and Asian cousins. Very light in colour, the golden yellow between the identifying black rosettes are only present on the animal's back, while the rest of the body is a greyish-white.

In the arid Hajjar mountains the leopard will roam over large distances, usually at dawn or dusk to avoid the sometimes extreme heat of the day. As they are solitary animals, this territory is fiercely defended against intruders. While the area of a male might overlap with the territories of several females, no other animal of the same sex is allowed near what the leopard considers to be the core of its range.

The sexual appetite of an Arabian leopard during mating season is voracious. A female in heat attracts a male over a great distance and mating, which is very vocal, takes place over five days. During this time the pair may mate several hundred times. Usually two to four cubs will be delivered within the protective shelter of a rock overhang or in a cave. From the outset, the young accustom themselves to the peripatetic lifestyle they will lead in later life. During the first few weeks of life the female frequently moves her cubs to different hiding places. Although leopards do occasionally bring food to their young, they usually prefer to take the young to the kill as part of their schooling in the methods of the hunt.

More prolific on the Arabian Peninsula than the leopard is the curious looking caracal, with its oversized ears and diminutive physique. Caracals are the desert counterpart of the European lynx and the American bobcat. Beyond is physical characteristics relatively little is known about this cat and its life in the desert fringes and mountain ranges of the UAE.

Surveys by the ALT in the Hajjar and Ru'us Al Jibal (in the Musandam at the northern tip of the Straits of Hormuz) mountains have suggested the caracal still exist in reasonable numbers despite being hunted by Fujairah mountain farmers who charge it with killing domestic goats and chickens. Often the real culprit turns out to be a fox or wild dog but the caracal is still badly maligned - and shot - as a pest.

The caracal is a genuine ultra-marathon athlete, covering between 100 and 300 kilometres as they prey on small mammals and reptiles as well as the occasional small bird.

The long, black tipped ears of the caracal are more than an aesthetic curio. According to local folklore, the caracals of the east coast of the emirates use the long black tufts on their ears to attract would-be prey. They are said to hide behind a rock with their ears sticking out. When they wriggle their ears, curious goats or gazelles come to investigate. When they are close enough the caracal will pounce.

Even more common than the caracal is the widely distributed Gordon's, or Arabian, wildcat. Closely resembling the domestic house cat, which ironically is its greatest threat, the small and ferocious specimen is found in the mountains, on gravel plains and the sand deserts of the northern emirates. Although it is probably absent from the vast Liwa desert.

The Gordon's wildcat is a shy animal which hunts gerbils, birds, mice and large insects at night and spends the day in hiding. But despite its secretive nature, the cat's savagery is renowned among local mountain tribesmen who say they would rather tackle a wild leopard than a Gordon's wildcat.The Gordon's wildcat is relatively ensconced in the UAE but its future is under great threat from one of its closest kin.

Roads criss-crossing the desert pose a threat in the form of road-kill and the destruction of habitat that mankind brings with it. But worse than people moving into new settlements are the pets they bring. Wildcats cross-breed easily with domestic cats. Road-kill and hunting eliminate one animal at a time and would probably not endanger the species in the long run. But hybridisation could quickly wipe-out the last remaining pure Arabian wildcats. Because their numbers will always be limited, the threat of cross-breeding is one which could have rapid and irreversible effects.

The smallest of the Arabian wildcats chooses to live in the largest, most daunting of desert environments. The sand cat weighs in at around a meagre two to two and a half kilograms, or about half the size of a domestic cat. A frequently glimpsed but little understood resident of the Liwa dunes, as well as African and Asian deserts, the sand cat is almost solely nocturnal.

According to bedu legend, the sand cats are fearless hunters of snakes. They tackle poisonous vipers by stunning them with rapid blows to the head before killing them off with a bite to the back of the neck. Without ready access to water, the sand cat relies on extracting moisture from its diet, which also includes insects, small reptiles and rodents.

Captive breeding of the sand cats met with difficulty until the late 1980s. In Al Ain Zoo several cats died of infectious diseases. But later, four captured and unrelated sand cats arrived and were secluded in the reptile shelter. Giving birth to litters of up to eight kittens, the zoo soon had 20 sand cats free from contamination, thriving despite an absence of natural light.

Despite the efforts of groups such as the ALT, every wildcat living on the Arabian Peninsula is threatened, either through loss of habitat, cross-breeding or hunting. The concept of conservation is relatively new to the UAE. While breeding programmes have produced eight living offspring from a pair of Arabian leopards and very limited results have been borne from a breeding programme involving Gordon's wildcats, more needs to be done to protect the animals in their natural habitat.

Oryx, leopards, ibex and a collection of wild cats have benefited immensely from the establishment of natural parks in Oman's south. The closest thing to such a reserve in the emirates is the famous sanctuary on Sir Bani Yas Island. But even amongst the herd of gazelles that thrive there, all the animals are reliant on man to provide food. Encouragingly, the bird-rich mangroves of Khor Kalba will soon be declared a proper reserve by the Sharjah emirate.