The initial record of your Cheetah in Arabia dates from 1950 and also this being from your photograph of a skin of the animal shot in Northern Saudi Arabia (1). There have been mentions of tracks and sightings prior to that date. Back 1950, like today people often mistook Cheetah for Leopard or Tiger. These combine of names are very common and also quite reputable newspapers is likely to make the mistake.

Cheetah art

You can find just two records for Cheetah inside the Southern section of Arabia. The first is from Oman and the other from Yemen. The Yemen animal would be a ‘sighting’ of the animal in Wadi Mitan, South Yemen in 1963. The Oman record originates from a pet killed by tribesmen in 1977 inside the Jibjat section of Dhofar
Perhaps the IUCN Red List on the web states how the Cheetah painting is regionally extinct inside the Uae and Oman. It states this without showing that the species ever actually occurred in the Uae and depending on the single Oman record. Within the comprehensive 1998 'Current Status of the Cheetah' mention is made of the only Oman specimen nevertheless the United Arab Emirates doesn't get a mention as an section of former distribution. Holiday in Africa - read more