Southwest Arabian endemic area animals & birds

The southwest Arabian endemic area ecoregion, together with the Tihamah plain, is home to the majority of southwest Arabian endemic bird species. The montane juniper woodlands are vital habitat for these birds, such as the Yemen Linet Carduelis yemenensis, Yemen Thrush Turdus menachensis and Yemen Warbler Parisoma buryi. These species are dependent on juniper berries as a food source and also use the juniper trees for nesting. The dramatic cliff faces on the escarpment rim are home to large raptors such as the Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus and the Verreaux Eagle Aquila verreauxii and the small Barbary Falcon Falco pelegrinoides. As the Arabian Peninsula forms a bridge between the African and Eurasian continents, the Asir Mountains and the western highlands of Yemen provide an important resting spot for migrating birds. The high escarpment and cliffs are especially important to migrating raptors in autumn. Wadi Turabah in Saudi Arabia is the last place in the Arabian Peninsula where the Hammerkop Scopus umbretta can be found nesting, and the isolated and distinctive endemic race Pica pica asirensis is pressent on Shalla ad-Dhana, near Tanoumah. Large mammals inhabit these highlands. The Asir escarpment is known to be one of the last strongholds in Saudi Arabia of the Arabian Leopard Panthera pardus nimr, thought to number around 50 individuals. Hamadryas Baboon Papio hamadryas is expanding and has become common around cities such as Abha and Taif. The Caracal Caracal caracal schmitzi is still relatively widespread, Arabian Wolf Canis lupus arabs is now extremely rare and in danger of extinction through persecution and hybridization with feral dogs, Rock Hyrax Procavia capensis jayakari is still fairly common in areas around Taif, but its distribution range is fast decreasing and the Striped Hyaena Hyaena hyaena is also a resident of this area. In Saudi Arabia the Ministry of Agriculture and Water created the Asir National Park (4,150 km2) in 1981. In this park and its surrounding areas, there have been 34 mammal species, 245 bird species, 41 reptile species and 7 amphibian species recorded. The Saudi National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD), established in 1986, is the main body responsible for nature conservation and protected area management. The NCWCD has a comprehensive system plan for protected areas with one existing protected area, the Raydah Reserve (approximately 9 km2) one of the prime areas of intact juniper forest in this ecoregion. Poor regeneration among the juniper forests is causing concern among environmentalists. One cause may be infestation of cones by a tortricide moth with another possible cause the lack of seedling survival caused by human disturbance, grazing pressure or climatic change. This information is taken from the World Wide Fund for Nature data.

Arabian Leopard

Hamadryas Baboon - male

Stripped Hyaena

National Wildlife Research Centre – Taif

My family and I were very lucky to be invited to look around the Saudi Wildlife Authority National Wildlife Research Centre (NWRC). This is an amazing centre that works on the reintroduction of rare and scarce species to many of its Protected Areas around the Kingdom and is a huge credit to the country for its forward thinking on conservation matters. The centre was established in 1986 and is particularly involved in the reintroduction of the rapidly declining Macqueen’s Bustard as well as reintroducing the extinct Ostrich. The Ostrich that occurred in Saudi Arabia, and was last seen in 1941, was the Arabian Ostrich Stuthio camelus syriacus, but unfortunately there are no examples of their subspecies left so the birds being reintroduced are the North African Red-necked Ostrich Stuthio camelus camelus from Sudan, that is genetically the closest surviving subspecies. Birds were reintroduced in Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area and now have a self-sustaining population of around 300 birds, and this is the only place in Saudi Arabia where you can see this species. The birds are now self-sustaining and are in fact so successful at breeding that individuals are now being sent overseas to other breeding centres. Macqueen’s Bustards were reintroduced to the Protected Area to re-establish a sustainable resident breeding population, with the NWRC pioneering the captive breeding of Macqueen’s Bustard, which has now been employed by other centres around the Middle East and North Africa. The captive breeding birds came from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordon, Iran and confiscated birds of unknown origin and produce between 150 – 300 birds annually. There are currently about 250 to 300 Macqueen’s Bustards in Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area but they are very difficult to see. A huge amount of scientific work has gone into the reintroduction of these birds and many scientific papers have also been written and this is another great success story from the NWRC. Breeding birds of both of these species are kept at the NWRC but the success of the Ostrich has meant that no breeding is required anymore. You are not allowed out of the vehicle near the Bustards as they do not want them habituated to humans.

North African Red-necked Ostrich

Macqueen's Bustard

The centre also has a number of rescued or confiscated animals including Arabian Leopard, Stripped Hyena, Wolf, Cheetah and Lion. Nubian Ibex is being raised at the centre and a Honey Badger is there that was trapped in Saudi Arabia and sent to the NWRC. Other animals that have been reintroduced by the NWRC are Arabian Oryx and Sand Gazelle. Since 1997 a number of Arabian Leopard Panthera pardus nimr have been collected by the centre and with cooperation with the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in Sharjah, which pioneered captive breeding techniques for the species, a number of cubs have been born. These animals will, hopefully, ensure the captive survival of the species and could allow future reintroductions to the wild.

Arabian Leopard

Arabian Oryx

Cheetah

Honey Badger

Striped Hyena

Nubian Ibex