Mummified cheetahs found in Saudi caves could shape rewilding plans

Researchers discovered seven naturally mummified cheetahs and 54 skeletal remains preserved for up to 4,000 years in caves in northern Saudi Arabia.
Ancient DNA analysis, performed on naturally mummified big cats for the first time, showed that two subspecies historically inhabited the region, not one as previously assumed.
The Asiatic cheetah, long considered the only candidate for reintroduction, has fewer than 30 individuals left in the wild, making the genetic evidence for a second subspecies significant for rewilding planners.
Saudi Arabia has already successfully reintroduced several ungulate species, setting a foundation for a potential future cheetah reintroduction.

Researchers exploring a cave network in northern Saudi Arabia have made an unexpected find: seven naturally mummified cheetahs, along with the skeletal remains of 54 more, preserved for up to 4,000 years in arid underground chambers.

“It was a big surprise,” lead author Ahmed Al Boug of Saudi Arabia’s National Centre for Wildlife told Scientific American.

One of the mummified cheetahs as it was found in situ in a cave in northern Saudi Arabia. Photo courtesy of National Center for Wildlife – Saudi Arabia

The discovery, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, is already reshaping how scientists think about reintroducing the big cats to the Arabian Peninsula.

The mummies were found during surveys of 134 caves spanning an area the size of New York City (1,211 square kilometers, or 468 square miles) near the city of Arar. Five of the caves contained cheetah remains, with one sinkhole-accessed cave alone yielding 41 specimens.

“The fact that they went into over one hundred caves and were able to find mummies — that’s highly unusual outside of permafrost,” Liz Kierepka, a wildlife geneticist at North Carolina State University in the U.S., who wasn’t involved in the study, told Science News.

The hot, dry microclimate of the limestone caves created ideal conditions for natural preservation, inhibiting bacterial decay and keeping soft tissue intact for centuries.

An above ground view of one of the caves where a mummified cheetah was found. Photo courtesy of David Chancellor/Ahmed Boug et al./Communications Earth & Environment

CT scans of the best-preserved mummies revealed a shrunken but clearly visible brain still inside the cranium, along with intact joint connections holding the skull, spine and thorax in place.

Radiocarbon dating placed the oldest skeletal remains at roughly 4,000 years old. One mummified individual died just about 130 years ago, relatively close to the last confirmed cheetah sightings on the peninsula in the 1970s.

Radiographic analysis of 20 skulls found that most individuals were subadults aged between 18 and 24 months, with nine cubs also recovered, suggesting the caves may have served as denning sites.

Perhaps the most significant finding came from ancient DNA analysis. The team extracted complete genome sequences from three specimens, the first time this has been accomplished from naturally mummified big cats.

Researchers collecting one of the mummified cheetahs from its place of discovery. Image courtesy of David Chancellor/Ahmed Boug et al./Communications Earth & Environment

Image 4 — Researchers examining of the mummified cheetahs in a laboratory. Image courtesy of Ahmed Boug et al./Communications Earth & Environment

While the youngest individual was genetically closest to the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), which most scientists had assumed was the only subspecies historically present in the region, the two older specimens clustered with the West African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki).

“The key insight from our discovery is that more than one subspecies of cheetah inhabited Saudi Arabia,” Al Boug said. “That opens the field considerably to how cheetahs are sourced and the implications of introducing diversity into the gene pool.”

The Asiatic cheetah is critically endangered, with fewer than 30 individuals clinging to survival in a single Iranian population, making it a precarious source for any reintroduction program. The findings suggest that West African cheetahs also have deep historical ties to Arabia, making them potential candidates for reintroduction and expanding the available gene pool.

An Iranian cheetah. — In Iran, efforts at captive and semicaptive breeding of cheetahs have so far had limited success. Image by Erfan Kouchari via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Saudi Arabia has already successfully restored several ungulate species, including Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) and sand gazelles (Gazella marica).

“This is really exciting work,” Molly Cassatt-Johnstone, a paleogenomicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the U.S., who wasn’t involved in the study, told National Geographic. “Recovering these mummified specimens and generating paleogenomic data from them is a huge contribution to our understanding of a critically endangered subspecies.”

Banner image: One of the mummified cheetahs preserved in a laboratory. Image courtesy of Ahmed Boug et al./Communications Earth & Environment

Citation:

Al Boug, A., Mir, Z. R., Jbour, S., van der Merwe, V., Al Salem, A., Al-Qahtani, A. H., … Duarte, C. M. (2026). Mummified cave cheetahs inform rewilding actions in Saudi Arabia. Communications Earth & Environment, 7(1), 24. doi:10.1038/s43247-025-03021-6

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