While President Donald Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East yielded many results, a pair of elusive Arabian Leopards set to be kept at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., are not to be overlooked.
The agreement was announced by the White House in May between the Royal Commission for AIUIa (RCU) and the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), who will be the caretakers of the Leopards while they are in the US.
RCU is a Saudi Government Agency focused on conservation, and it has spearheaded preservation efforts for the species. (RELATED: LOFTUS: Trump’s Historic Week May Turn Out To Be The Most Consequential Of His Presidency)
“We are honored to collaborate with the Royal Commission for AlUla to protect the critically endangered Arabian leopard,” Brandie Smith, the John and Adrienne Mars Director of NZCBI, stated in May.
Smith added that the NZCBI will “create the only Arabian leopard exhibit in the United States.”
The pair is part of an extremely rare species with around 120 animals in the wild, mostly found in the mountainous regions of Oman and Yemen, according to the Smithsonian.
The animals reside in the Arabian Peninsula and have been the subject of many conservation efforts, such as the Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center in Taif, Saudi Arabia. The center is managed by RCU, according to the Smithsonian.
Asian leopards are the smallest of the eight leopard subspecies, making it the world’s smallest “big cat,” according to CNN.
The gift marks the first time the species will be exhibited in the US, and RCU officials are already hailing it as a “major step” in the mission to protect the Arabian Leopard.
“This partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute highlights RCU’s growing leadership in global conservation and is a major step in our mission to protect the Arabian leopard,” RCU CEO Abeer AlAkel told NZCBI.
The gift underscores potentially friendlier relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman applaud after the signing of agreements. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
The Leopards are not the only diplomatic achievement from Trump’s Middle East trip — the White House announced in May that Saudi Arabia committed to invest $600 billion in the U.S.
The developments between the two countries come after years of strained rhetoric and policy disputes, with the White House saying it represents a “new golden era of partnership” between the two nations.
