The future exhibit is funded by a $51.6 million gift from a Saudi Arabian government agency dedicated to preserving Saudi heritage and culture: the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU). The gift is the largest in the National Zoo’s history \u2014 and it’s tied to the controversial Saudi Crown Prince.<\/p>\n
National Zoo expects to breed Arabian leopards in conservation effort<\/p>\n
The new exhibit, “Saudi Arabia: Arabian Leopard,” will house a breeding pair of Arabian leopards gifted to the National Zoo as part of its newest collaborative conservation program.<\/p>\n
Habitat loss and prey depletion have caused the leopards to become endangered. The leopards used to live and range widely across the Arabian Peninsula, “but today the cats survive in just a small fraction of their historic range,” the zoo says.<\/p>\n
The leopards are expected to arrive at the zoo in fall 2028, and the exhibit is set to open to the public in winter 2029.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tSmithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology InstituteSmithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute<\/p>\n
A rendering of the upcoming Arabian leopard exhibit. The exhibit will feature a central shade plaza and an indoor day room to keep the animals comfortable year-round.<\/p>\n
It’s a substantial addition to the zoo. The exhibit will include “outdoor habitat areas and an overhead animal crossing,” along with “an indoor habitat and care facilities [that] will keep the animals comfortable year-round” and a live webcam so fans worldwide can watch the animals.<\/p>\n
The exhibit building will take inspiration from “the rugged landforms and traditional architecture of the Arabian Peninsula” that the leopards traditionally call home, the zoo said.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia funding the National Zoo leopard exhibit<\/p>\n
The new exhibit is at least partially funded by millions of dollars from RCU, which is chaired by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.<\/p>\n
The Crown Prince has drawn international criticism for human rights violations, including the imprisonment of dissenters and their families<\/a>. In 2018, the CIA concluded that bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident from Saudi Arabia who was critical of the regime. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied this account.<\/p>\n The Trump family’s business dealings with Saudi real estate developers, companies and the government have drawn concern over possible ethics violations, conflicts of interest and foreign influence over U.S. policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The National Zoo said in February<\/a> its relationship with RCU began in 2023, with a cooperative framework for the leopard program signed in May 2025.<\/p>\n The two leopards themselves were pledged to the U.S.<\/a> after bin Salman’s visit to the U.S. last November, followed by Trump’s visit to the Middle East last May \u2014 the same month that the ink dried on the cooperative framework.<\/p>\n “This partnership allows us to do what we do best \u2014 apply science to help bring a species back from the brink of extinction,” National Zoo director Brandie Smith said in the February news release about the signing.<\/p>\n Diplomacy and conservation at the National Zoo<\/p>\n Collaborative conservation programs may be familiar to anyone in the District that loves the giant pandas: D.C.’s unofficial mascots Bao Li and Qing Bao are the latest in a long line of pandas on loan from China as part of a similar program.<\/p>\n And, though tense international relations rocked the boat for the panda program<\/a> in recent years, the program continues in part because animal conservation is the top priority for the scientists involved.<\/p>\n “We’re a bunch of scientists; we’re a bunch of animal people,” Smith told News4 in 2023 when discussing the pandas. “This is not a political conversation. This is absolutely a conversation between colleagues talking about, what’s best for the overall program, and also, what can be best for individual animals?”<\/p>\n
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