Arabian Leopard Conservation Program of Saudi Arabia’s RCU Welcomes Birth of Rare Triplets

The triplets were born at the RCU’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center this summer. SPA
The triplets were born at the RCU’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center this summer. SPA
TT
20

Arabian Leopard Conservation Program of Saudi Arabia’s RCU Welcomes Birth of Rare Triplets

The triplets were born at the RCU’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center this summer. SPA
The triplets were born at the RCU’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center this summer. SPA

Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has announced the birth of a rare litter of three Arabian leopard cubs—two males and one female—marking a major milestone in efforts to safeguard the future of this critically endangered subspecies of big cats.

According to an RCU statement, the triplets were born at the RCU’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center this summer. This is the first time three cubs have been born together in captivity in the Kingdom. The youngsters are being closely observed by the center's expert team, who are recording their behavior and interactions.

Carefully observed via CCTV so as not to disturb them, the new cubs are already displaying distinctive personalities, with the two males proving to be particularly boisterous, climbing rocks in their enclosure and play fighting with each other. The female, on the other hand, is much shyer and more attached to her mother, according to the statement.

The triplets’ parents are a father named Baher and a 6-year-old mother called Ward. Baher, aged approximately 13, is one of two leopards known as Founders, who were brought to the conservation breeding center as part of a regional exchange program to add to the genetic diversity of the population, founding a new bloodline, and thereby increasing the viability of the breeding program. Baher arrived in December 2023.

The RCU added that while records from past decades are imperfect, the cubs are believed to be only the third litter of Arabian leopard triplets born in captivity in roughly the past 30 years, and the first in Saudi Arabia. Currently, the Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center is the world’s most successful site for the conservation breeding of Arabian leopards.

The project’s long-term goal is the reintroduction of this iconic big cat into the wild in AlUla. Vital to this is the restoration and rehabilitation of the RCU’s six nature reserves, which are actively contributing to the Saudi Green Initiative’s national commitment to protect 30% of terrestrial and marine areas.



Swollen Rivers Flood Towns in US South after Dayslong Deluge of Rain

The rising waters of Cedar Creek and the Kentucky River overflow their banks, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Monterey, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The rising waters of Cedar Creek and the Kentucky River overflow their banks, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Monterey, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
TT
20

Swollen Rivers Flood Towns in US South after Dayslong Deluge of Rain

The rising waters of Cedar Creek and the Kentucky River overflow their banks, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Monterey, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The rising waters of Cedar Creek and the Kentucky River overflow their banks, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Monterey, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Days of unrelenting heavy rain and storms that killed at least 18 people worsened flooding as some rivers rose to near-record levels and inundated towns across an already saturated US South and parts of the Midwest.

Cities ordered evacuations and rescue crews in inflatable boats checked on residents in Kentucky and Tennessee, while utilities shut off power and gas in a region stretching from Texas to Ohio.

“I think everybody was shocked at how quick (the river) actually did come up,” said salon owner Jessica Tuggle, who was watching Monday as murky brown water approached her business in Frankfort, Kentucky, the state capital along the swollen Kentucky River, The AP news reported.

She said that as each new wave of rain arrived over the weekend, anxious residents hoped for a reprieve so they could just figure out how bad things would get and how to prepare. She and friends packed up everything she could haul out of her salon, including styling chairs, hair products and electronics, and they took it all to a nearby tap house up the hill.

“Everybody was just ‘stop raining, stop raining’ so we could get an idea of what the worst situation would be,” she said.

Officials diverted traffic and turned off utilities to businesses in the city as the river was expected to approach a record crest on Monday.

For many, there was a sense of dread that the worst was still to come.

“As long as I’ve been alive — and I’m 52 — this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Wendy Quire, the general manager at the Brown Barrel restaurant downtown.

“The rain just won’t stop,” Quire said Sunday. “It’s been nonstop for days and days.”

Storms leaving devastating impact The 18 reported deaths since the storms began on Wednesday included 10 in Tennessee. A 9-year-old boy in Kentucky was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus. A 5-year-old boy in Arkansas died after a tree fell on his family’s home, police said. A 16-year-old volunteer Missouri firefighter died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm.

The National Weather Service warned Sunday that dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach a “major flood stage,” with extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure possible.

In north-central Kentucky, emergency officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for Falmouth and Butler, towns near the bend of the rising Licking River. Thirty years ago, the river reached a record 50 feet (15 meters), resulting in five deaths and 1,000 homes destroyed.

The storms come after the Trump administration cut jobs at NWS forecast offices, leaving half of them with vacancy rates of about 20%, or double the level of a decade ago.

Why so much nasty weather? Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong winds and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

The NWS said 5.06 inches (nearly 13 centimeters) of rain fell Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas — making it the wettest day ever recorded in April in the city. Memphis, Tennessee, received 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain from Wednesday to Sunday, the NWS said.

Rives, a northwestern Tennessee town of about 200 people, was almost entirely underwater after the Obion River overflowed.

Domanic Scott went to check on his father in Rives after not hearing from him in a house where water reached the doorstep.

“It’s the first house we’ve ever paid off. The insurance companies around here won’t give flood insurance to anyone who lives in Rives because we’re too close to the river and the levees. So if we lose it, we’re kind of screwed without a house,” Scott said.

In Dyersburg, Tennessee, dozens of people arrived over the weekend at a storm shelter near a public school clutching blankets, pillows and other necessities. Just days earlier the city was hit by a tornado that caused millions of dollars in damage.

For some, grabbing the essentials also meant taking a closer look at the liquor cabinet.

In Frankfort, with water rising up to his window sills, resident Bill Jones fled his home in a boat, which he loaded with several boxes of bottles of bourbon.