The national animal of Yemen is the Arabian leopard. These big cats are broadly native to the Arabian Peninsula, and sadly are critically endangered. Though the smallest leopard subspecies, they are important symbols of power and it is for the very purpose of their preservation that they were made the country’s national animal.
Big cats have always played a significant part in our collective unconscious.
Some of the oldest art in the world, rock and cave art, features stylized and fascinating images of leopards and big cats.
The leopard remains one of the most important animals in Yemen today and in hopes of its preservation has been made the national animal.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Yemen?
The national animal of Yemen is the Arabian leopard.
This animal is a very important Yemeni symbol but has only officially been the country’s national animal since 2008.
There are various reasons for this as we will get into.
The Arabian leopard, though, like many species of leopard, is unfortunately in grave danger of extinction and its conservation status is critically endangered.
We’ll get into the reasons for this too, but as much as the Arabian leopard is important emblematically for many reasons in Yemen, these symbolic reasons are perhaps even less important than conservation.
The leopard itself does not feature heavily in much of the country’s livery, flags or coat of arms.
Livery is the special uniform worn by official servants of some form or another, and can represent anything from a country to just a single family.
Whereas many national animals, like the leopards of England, are important to flags and coats of arms, you’ll find this is not quite as true in Yemen.
Instead, Yemeni’s coat of arms depicts a golden eagle, a very important symbol in many far reaching nations.
The leopards of Arabia are elusive and increasingly hard to find, and so while they may be the country’s national animal, they are not one that even many Yemeni people are likely to see.
Indeed, wildlife photographers may spend years trying to see one.
All of this is to say that the national animal of Yemen being the leopard is, you might almost say, more about the leopards themselves rather than in their role as national symbols.
Conservation is a problem facing virtually all nations now, but leopards in particular have been uniquely threatened in recent decades.
Just how many are left?
How many Arabian leopards are left?
Sadly, there rea only an estimated 150-200 Arabian leopards left in the wild.
They are more in captivity that are being actively bred, but it is notoriously difficult to successfully return big cats to the wild when they have been born into captivity.
Leopards spend years shadowing their mothers before they are independent, learning to hunt and survive, and there’s no substitute for that in captivity.
Without it, they don’t survive long in the wild.
This is not to say these efforts are not worthwhile.
But the problem is much bigger than simply being able to breed them in captivity and reintroduce them into the wild.
Since around 1996 they have been listed as critically endangered.
We touched on how difficult it is to sight these animals in the wild in Yemen, and this is precisely why—they are already highly secretive and elusive, but you are looking for a needle in a haystack.
With as few as 150 out there to find, you may only see one once in several years.
Why, then, are Arabian leopards in so much trouble?
Why are Arabian leopards endangered?
As with any conservation question, there is more than a single factor at play.
Arabian leopards are threatened for many reasons and lots of different things have led to the depletion of their population.
One is loss of habitat.
They tend to live on mountainous uplands and steppes, and many of these areas have been taken over by people for housing or industry.
They are thus pushed into a smaller and smaller range, where competition is fiercer.
The hunting of their prey has also been a problem for these animals.
They hunt things like gazelle, ibex, hare, porcupine and hedgehog. Many of these species have been hunted to depleted numbers, too.
Of course, the leopards themselves are also illegally poached.
How do Arabian leopards survive in the desert?
It is a tough life out in the desert, but these leopards are highly adaptable.
They are able to find caves and rock shelters to provide somewhere secure and safe to sleep and raise cubs.
They also provide trapped water from rain or mountain streams, though they may also sometimes have to travel down the mountain to drink.
There is also a variety of prey in this habitat.
Though you might think rocky slopes would be a treacherous place for animals, surefooted large animals like ibex have no problem living up there.
Equally, many smaller mammals can find refuge from the dangers at sea level up the mountain sides.
So, there are many reasons why the national animal of Yemen is this proud leopard, and they are perhaps not all as simple as you might think.
Certainly it is an important symbol of power and pride, but at the same time the decision to make the leopard the country’s national animal was also an effort to preserve it from extinction.
It is in a more than precarious position, and the future looks uncertain for this incredible creature.