THE ARC NEWSLETTER OF THE AFRICAN-ARABIAN WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTRE (INCORPORATING: AFRICAN CARNIVORE RESEARCH)

Chris & Tilde Stuart PO Box 6 Loxton 6985 South Africa Tel:-27-20212-11 Fax:-27-20212-ask for 1 (for telephone and fax always use the international operator.)

We have just returned from another three month sojourn in Arabia; in fact I am starting to write newsletter number two in the Flying Fox pub at Johannesburg International Airport awaiting our connecting flight to Cape Town. They serve good draft beer, I can recommend it!

Arabia revisted

After our three months in the south-eastern corner of Arabia last year, we were asked by the Arabian Leopard Trust (Dubai-based) to return to the United Arab Emirates and delineate the boundaries of the five national parks that we had proposed in our earlier report. We arrived to the most copious rains on recent record- we seem to have a penchant for this- so that the wadis that we had driven up last year were flooded and even the trusty Landrover had to “resist” the urge to try. After the first few weeks it was hard to imagine that this was desert-country, with meadows of green grass and an abundance of flowering plants. A sure indicator that it was an exceptional season was that a number of camel cows were dropping twins.

The five proposed national parks can be divided into three groups, the montane areas, namely the Ru’us al Jebal and the Shimayliyyah; the two coastal blocks- Khor Za’ab (Kalba) and Khor al Beydah and the Jebel Ali sand desert. All are scenically very beautiful and range in size from 10km² to in excess of 1400km², and all have a great diversity of species. The Ru’us al Jebal, straddling the border with Oman, is home to the last remnant leopard population in this part of Arabia and the Shimayliyyah is the range where we “rediscovered” the Arabian tahr last year and located Blanford’s fox. The two khor’s are important for their mangrove thickets, rich animal diversity that includes many bird species, particularly migratory waders and an astounding number of different terns. Jebel Ali is the only fairly large tract of relatively unspoilt sand desert in the northern Emirates and is home to that regions only viable population of the Arabian gazelle (Gazella gazella), healthy populations of the large spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastix microlepis) and numerous other arid-area adapted biota. Although we have recommended that these five proposed national parks should be established as a matter of urgency, we have also made the point that several other areas are deserving of protection. The feeling is that the ruling sheikhs of the Emirates are keen to establish conservation on a stable footing in that country and the chances seem fair to good that parks will be proclaimed by decree in the not too distant future. We hope to remain involved with conservation in the United Arab Emirates!

We also undertook a 10 day survey of the introduced ungulates on Sir Bani Yas Island, lying in the Arabian Gulf. This 90km² island is the personal property of Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi Emirate and president of the U.A.E. Amongst others, there are some 4000 sand gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa), approximately 800 Arabian gazelles (Gazella gazella), 250 scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), some 200 blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), etc, etc! All of these animals have to be provided with their food requirements at feeding stations located around the island. More than 2.5 million trees have been planted on the island and all have to be irrigated with water from a desalination plant, or transported by ship from the mainland. All in all it was quite an experience.

YEMEN

Towards the end of our stay we flew (in a grossly overloaded Yemani Air ‘plane) to Saa’na, the capital of Yemen, to undertake a ten day feasibility study. Because of the relatively volatile situation in Yemen we wanted to ascertain whether a longer-term vertebrate survey in the future would be a practical option. Hasco/Shell provided us with a vehicle and driver (the latter essential for easing our way through roadblocks and negotiating some of the worst driving that we have ever encountered- and we have seen some!!) so we were able to see many parts of western Yemen in record time. This is a heavily armed and clannish community that has decimated its larger wildlife species, including leopard, wolf, Nubian ibex and the gazelles. The Queen of Sheba gazelle (Gazella bilkis) that was last recorded in the vicinity of the town of Ta’iz is now almost certainly extinct. The only larger mammals that we saw were Hamadryas baboons. The country has a long history of occupation by man and few areas in the west are not settled or cultivated, as evidenced by numerous hilltop villages and terraced fields on many of the steep mountain slopes. Birdlife is diverse and prolific, including bearded vulture, griffon vultures and large numbers of fan- tailed and brown-necked ravens. Given the dense human population in the western mountains and little prospect for meaningful conservation we see the only area that would warrant a full zoological survey is the Hadramawt, that desert extension that borders the Dhofar of Oman in the east and the Saudi Arabian Ru’ub-al-Khali to the north. The region is sparsely populated and reports indicate that viable ungulate and carnivore populations may well survive there.

Projects

The survey of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco has been put on ice because of red- tape and petty bureaucracy. It may still happen but only after the "powers that be" get their act in order. After all, we are supposed to be working towards the same goals!

The lion survey continues, as do our plans to visit several regions of Africa, including the Red Sea Hills that run down the east of Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea. Given the complexities of working in the Third World and our propensity to suddenly deciding on a particular trip or survey (in other words we like to change our minds) watch this section in future newsletters!!! We will definately be spending 5-6 months in the United Arab Emirates from the beginning of next year, giving the scientific input for the development of a desert wildlife park in the Emirate of Sharjah. A new book project will see us visiting several additional areas of Arabia- we would like to include Iraq but discretion is the better part of valor!

Bookmarket

Our seventh book, Africa’s Vanishing Wildlife, has just made its appearance in the book shops. This was a rather depressing book to put together, as much of what we found was in the “doom and gloom” category. The next book contracts should cheer us up however!!
Over the next three years we will be putting together titles on Africa’s great game parks and wild places; a book on the continent’s birds; a field guide to the fauna of Arabia.

Apart from short trips (no longer than two weeks at a time) we will be at home-base until about December of this year trying to catch the tail of the backlog. It really is an elusive beast that requires great skill and cunning when attempting to foil its dastardly escape tactics- we shall never beat it but..........

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