Deep inside limestone caves near Arar in northern Saudi Arabia, something extraordinary was waiting to be found: the naturally mummified remains of cheetahs that died centuries — and millennia — ago.
Scientists discovered seven mummified cheetahs and 54 skeletal remains between 2022 and 2023. The specimens span a staggering timeframe — from approximately 100 years ago to over 4,200 years into the past. It was an unprecedented find. Never before had researchers successfully extracted genetic material from naturally mummified big cats.
Now they have — and the results are upending what conservationists thought they knew about cheetahs, with significant implications for one of the most ambitious wildlife comeback projects in the Arabian Peninsula.
Two Subspecies, One Peninsula
The DNA analysis, published in early 2026, delivered a genuine surprise. Researchers had assumed that only Asiatic cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) once inhabited the Arabian Peninsula. But the genomic data tells a more complex story.
The youngest mummy — closest to the present day — showed the expected close genetic relationship to the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah. But two older specimens were found to be genetically closer to the Northwest African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) — a different subspecies, native to West and Central Africa, that was not previously thought to have ranged into Arabia.
This means at least two cheetah subspecies once shared the Arabian Peninsula as their territory — a discovery that fundamentally changes the biological baseline for any reintroduction programme.
Why It Matters for Conservation
The Asiatic cheetah is one of the most critically endangered mammals on Earth. Fewer than 50 individuals survive, all in Iran. Using them as a source population for reintroduction into Arabia would be genetically risky and logistically near-impossible given their numbers.
But if Northwest African cheetahs — a comparatively less critically endangered population — are historically native to Arabia, then they become a legitimate and historically appropriate source for rewilding efforts. The gene pool available for reintroduction just expanded significantly.
"This challenges the previous assumption that only Asiatic cheetahs inhabited the Arabian Peninsula," the research team noted. "Conservationists can now consider sourcing cheetahs from the more abundant Northwest African cheetah population, making reintroduction more feasible."
Saudi Arabia's Cheetah Comeback Programme
Saudi Arabia launched its National Cheetah Conservation Strategy and Reintroduction Program in May 2023 through the National Center for Wildlife. The programme is already showing results: in July 2024, four Asiatic cheetah cubs were born in captivity in Saudi Arabia — the first cheetah births in the country in decades.
The mummy DNA research now feeds directly into decisions about which animals to use, in what genetic combinations, and from which source populations — providing a scientific foundation that the programme previously lacked.
Cheetahs vanished from much of the Middle East and North Africa through a combination of habitat loss, prey depletion, and persecution over the 20th century. The Arabian Peninsula, once home to thriving cheetah populations, has been without them in the wild for generations.
The mummies in those Saudi caves were silent for centuries. The information they've yielded may help bring the species back.
Want more remarkable wildlife comeback stories? See India's cheetah reintroduction hitting 39 animals, the Iberian lynx recovery from 94 to 2,400 individuals, and white rhinos returned to Uganda after 40 years.
Sources: Science News, March 2026 · National Geographic · The National News, January 15, 2026 · Smithsonian Magazine · LiveScience · KSL · National Center for Wildlife, Saudi Arabia
