When scientists with the National Center for Wildlife in Saudi Arabia were surveying caves in search of wildlife in 2022 and 2023, they came across something unexpected: seven naturally mummified cheetahs in five caves near the northern city of Arar. The remains were largely intact with well-preserved soft tissue and skeletons.Now, an analysis of three of the mummies’ DNA has revealed something that could help reintroduce cheetahs to the Arabian Peninsula wilderness, researchers say.Cheetahs once inhabited much of Africa and parts of Asia, but now they are found in only 9% of their historic range. It was previously believed that the Asiatic cheetah, called Acinonyx jubatus venaticus, was the only subspecies ever present in Saudi Arabia. The species is now critically endangered, with a small wild population remaining in Iran. Across the peninsula, cheetahs were deemed locally extinct in the 1970s.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut when the researchers analyzed three of the mummies, they found that two of the oldest specimens were genetically closer to the subspecies Acinonyx jubatus hecki, known as the Northwest African cheetah.The findings, published in January in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, reveal that at least two subspecies of cheetah once roamed the Arabian Peninsula. The discovery could help reintroduction efforts as scientists now know which cheetah lineages once lived in the peninsula and have evidence of their success in the area.“It was highly surprising,” said lead author Ahmed Al Boug, an ecologist researcher and deputy CEO of the National Center for Wildlife in Saudi Arabia. “This finding represents the first documented case of natural mummification in cheetahs, and first physical evidence that cheetah …
