Expedition

(soft music and typing) The deserts of Southern Oman are home to one of the most elusive big cats on earth, the Arabian leopard. I've come here to meet someone who knows just how hard they are to find, Khalid al Higmani. So you've been working here for 12 years. Yes. How many times have you actually seen a leopard? Just only three times. Three times? - Yeah. So our chances being here for a couple of weeks are pretty slim. Yup. If you're lucky, maybe you will see some. Oh that would be amazing. There are fewer than 200 Arabian leopards left in the world. These mountains are one of their last remaining strongholds. And Khalid is tireless in his search for leopards. He tracks them by looking out for the tell-tale signs they leave behind them. There is a scrape here. There is a footprint here also. Here in this part. -

Steve

He's on the right trail, but he has almost no chance of seeing a leopard in the flesh. To record the life of this secretive big cat, he uses remote cameras. As darkness falls, Khalid's cameras reveal an unseen world, a parade of animals that live in this remote landscape. (soft music) Blanford fox. These desert specialists become active after dusk. (snarl) They mate for life and thrive on steep, rocky slopes, cliffs, and canyons. (quiet music) The common genet, another nighttime expert. These cat-like mammals are stealth hunters that prey on any small animals they can find. (quiet music) Desert hedgehog, uses its spines to escape predators. Incredibly rare, the striped hyena is just as hard to see in Arabia as a leopard. (quiet music) Honey badgers. These are so aggressive that leopards give them a wide berth. (quiet music) (snuffling) The Arabian wolf. (quiet music) Now only survives in isolated populations. (quiet music) The remote cameras also reveal what Khalid has been looking for, the Arabian leopard. (breathing) (dramatic music) Its future hangs in the balance, but the Dhofar Mountains of Southern Oman are a beacon of hope for this majestic animal. (soft music) The Arabian Leopard is the main things for us, because it's an endangered species. We need to know how many we have. -

Narrator

The cameras are helping Khalid to build a database of each individual leopard. And they're also revealing healthy numbers of the animals they feed on. (clucking) Arabian partridge, rock hyrax, and ibex. Khalid believes there are 35 individual leopards in these mountains. And he has dedicated his life to protecting them. Looking after this beautiful animal is in my blood. (panting)