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The global biodiversity crisis has manifested itself on the Arabian Peninsula with wildlife population declines and extinctions particularly of the large iconic mammals. Protected areas are increasingly being established to provide refuge, enhance wildlife populations, and reintroduce missing keystone species. Since 2018, eight royal reserves have been established in Saudia Arabia, two in the hyper-arid central region. Understanding current species occurrence, richness, abundance, and diversity is crucial to targeting management and reintroduction efforts. Due to the scarcity of data on wildlife presence and spatial abundance in the region, we utilized camera traps placed on trails, at water stations, and at burrows, as non-intrusive tools for baseline biodiversity assessment in these protected areas. These camera traps revealed the presence of 12 species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List, underscoring the regional and global importance of these areas. Additionally, these findings contribute valuable information on species distributions in hyper-arid areas for global assessments. The data on the spatial abundance of top predators and meso-predators is crucial for designing feasibility studies for reintroduction programs and can guide spatial management strategies that will enhance biodiversity.