CONSERVATION OF ARABIAN GAZELLES - Nwrc.gov.sa

3. Gazelle Distribution and Status
in the Arabian Peninsula
Doug Williamson and Hany Tatwany
Abstract: This paper provides a concise outline of what is currently known about the distribution
and status of gazelles in the Arabian Peninsula for the benefit of people who either are not familiar
with the region or are unaware of the results of recent studies of gazelle distribution and status.
Both free ranging and captive populations are considered. The presentation concludes with an
examination ofthe conservation value ofcaptive populations in the region.
Keywords: gazelle, afri, idmi, rheem, status, conservation, Saudi Arabia.
Introduction
Since the distribution and conservation status of gazelles in Saudi Arabia have recently and
comprehensively been reviewed by Thouless et ai. (1991) and gazelle distribution in Arabia has also
recently been reviewed by Harrison and Bates (1991), an exhaustive review of these subjects would
be redundant. This presentation therefore has the strictly limited purpose of providing a concise
outline of what is currently known about the status and distribution of gazelles in the Arabian
Peninsula for the benefit of people who are either unfamiliar with the region or are unaware of the
results of recent findings on gazelle distribution and status. Both free-ranging and captive
populations are considered, but only the species level is discussed. Subspecific issues are addressed
in other articles in this volume. Much of the paper simply summarizes Thouless et al. (1991), but
there is a discussion of captive populations which raises issues not previously addressed in an explicit
manner.
The historical distribution and abundance of the gazelles of the Arabian region were poorly
documented and there are reasons for believing that the original distribution of gazelles has been
radically disrupted by human activities. Motorized hunting has been widespread since World War II
and domestic livestock populations have greatly increased their range because of access to artificial
water supplies and supplementary feeding, and have also greatly increased in numbers. Given the
paucity of historical information and the scale and intensity of recent disturbances, it is difficult to
see how a clear picture of undisturbed gazelle distribution and abundance can ever be constructed.
Despite this lack of information, it is clear that all Arabian gazelle species have been
drastically affected by hunting and habitat degradation. One species, the Saudi gazelle (English) or
afri (Arabic) Gazella saudiya is almost certainly extinct in the wild and the other two species, the
sand gazelle (English) or rheem (Arabic) Gazella subgutturosa and the mountain gazelle (English) or
idmi (Arabic) GazeLLa gazeLLa have been reduced to a few relict populations. Each species will be
individually reviewed. Since their status is considered further in other presentations, the reviews will
be brief.
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