Arabia
Felix- "happy Arabia"- otherwise known today as the Yemen Republic!
Certainly happy in the sense that it is the southern Arabian Peninsula's
most abundant watershed, the western mountains receive relatively copious
rains and for perhaps more than 3000 years it was an important agricultural
producer and trader of valued goods such as frankincense, myrrh and various
spices. The country has a relatively high human population density, with
more than 24 persons per square kilometre, the vast majority of the 18
million being concentrated in and around the highlands. Although the present
population growth rate is high, at 3.4%, thousands of years of settlement
have had major impacts on the natural environment.
Yemen, at the south-western corner of the Arabian Peninsula, is separated
from Africa by the "gate of tears", the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb,
the 32km wide channel that is the vital link between the Red Sea and the
Gulf of Aden. It is not long ago, in geological terms, that Arabia and
Africa were one but faulting and the movement of tectonic plates caused
the Arabian landmass to slide to the north-east. The western Yemeni highlands,
with their relatively high rainfall and abundant vegetation, slid off the
surface and left in their place on the African continent one of the most
harsh landscapes on Earth, the Danakil Depression.
The highest peak in the western Yemeni mountains, and in fact in the
Arabian Peninsula, is the 3760m Jabal Nabi Shu'ayb. Extending over 527
970 square kilometres and encompassing a great diversity of landscapes,
Yemen has Arabia's greatest plant and animal diversity. There are estimated
to be more than 3000 plant species, of which some 10% are endemics, that
is they occur nowhere else on our planet. This country is one of the main
centres of succulent plant distribution and it has been compared, in terms
of richness, with Mexico, Chile, South Africa and Madagascar. The vegetation
of Yemen is a blending of species from the tropical African Sudanian plant
geographical region and that of the extra-tropical Saharo-Arabian. Although
many centuries of cultivation, pastoralism and firewood collection has
resulted in considerable modification of the natural vegetation over most
of the country, there is still much of interest.
As with the vegetation, the fauna is rich, with 85 mammal species, almost
400 birds, 109 reptiles, eight amphibians and at least as many freshwater
fish. What must be borne in mind is that Yemen is still not fully explored
from the zoological perspective and it is certain that these totals will
be added to as our knowledge broadens.
Wildlife
in Present Day Yemen
In April of 1996 we had the opportunity of paying a 12 day visit
to western Yemen, in order to examine the feasibility of undertaking a
long-term zoological survey of the more poorly explored areas of this fascinating
country. For us, one of the main attractions was to see a mixing of African
and Arabian wildlife in one country and secondly to see what interest and
potential there was for conserving this great diversity. Probably the two
most significant impressions we came away with were, firstly the high human
population density, particularly in the highlands and to a lesser extent
on the Tihama coastal plain, with its attendant cultivations often on seemingly
impossibly steep slopes. Secondly, the fact that virtually every male in
the highlands and towards the Hadramawt was armed with a semi-automatic
or automatic rifle and the traditional jambiyah.
Firearm proliferation, combined with a burgeoning human population has
led to increased pressures on wildlife. Large numbers of domesticated and
feral dogs throughout the areas we visited have also taken their toll.
From our experience in many parts of Africa we know what major impacts
dogs can have on the wildlife, and it would seem unlikely that this is
any different in Yemen.
Demise of Ungulates
Hardest hit have been the ungulates. Apart from domestic stock,
we saw no wild ungulates on our brief travels, nor any signs of their passing.
The closest we came to wild ungulates were through the memories of villagers
who pointed to the high mountain ridges and explained that everything except
the Hamadryas baboons, hyrax and the hares had been hunted. On the corners
of some of the houses in Sana'a old city we saw the horns of Nubian ibex
(Capra ibex nubiana) but from their condition they seemed to be very old.
The Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) was said to have survived in the Wadi
Jauf region into the early 1960's and rumours still circulate of it being
sighted on the edge of the Rub-al-Khali but this seems to us to be highly
unlikely. Although after our "rediscovery" of the Arabian tahr
in the United Arab Emirates- we now say, never say never! Another species
that, in our opinion, is unlikely to have survived is the Queen of Sheba
gazella (Gazella bilkis), which was only known to have occurred on the
high altitude plains and hills around the city of Ta'izz. The last known
specimens were collected in 1951 and are deposited in the collection of
the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. The animal is not however
totally extinct since four of these beautiful gazelles, that were collected
within the past few years in Yemen, are presently held in a private collection
in Qatar. Although the mountain gazelle, or idmi (Gazella gazella), the
dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas) and the rhim (Gazella subgutturosa) were
once widely distibuted in the country, they have now been eradicated over
much of their former range and it is highly unlikely that more than a few
hundred could have survived.
However, we did encounter that primative ungulate, the rock hyrax (Procavia
capensis jayakari) at a number of localities, usually by its characteristic
call and the white and brown urine stains on the rocks in the vicinity
of their shelters. Hares (Lepus capensis) were not uncommon on the plains
and sands of the Tihama coastal plain judging by tracks encountered.
Arabian Leopards - in Saan'a Market and the
Wild
When we arrived in Saan'a, at least two locally caught leopards
(Panthera pardus nimr) were on display in small cages in the market area,
and we were told that there were in fact five in total, although we could
not verify this. Leopards still occur widely in the western mountains,
and possibly in parts of the Hadramawt, but in very low numbers. Although
it was claimed that most of the leopards put on display, or killed, come
from the Wadah area to the north of Raydah, we personally doubt this. We
encountered many different versions of the same stories and came away with
the impression that leopards were in fact being killed and trapped throughout
the western highlands. A local biologist/naturalist has recorded the death
or capture of 33 leopards in the western highlands from 1979 to 1996, with
eight of this total having been killed in 1983! It is highly unlikely that
all leopard deaths and captures were recorded but the average number accounted
for each year was 1.8 individuals. The surface area of the highlands is
similar to that of the mountain ranges of south-western South Africa, where
on average 20 leopards are killed each year. It is generally felt that
this annual off-take represents between 5% and 10% of the leopard population
in the region. There is no reason to believe that the hunting success rate
is any lower, in fact we felt it was probably higher, in the Yemeni highlands
than in south-western South Africa. Although the available information
is minimal it could indicate that the leopard population in Yemen is very
low indeed. The leopard prey base has been greatly reduced in Yemen, with
wild ungulates being in such low numbers that they play little part in
their diet. Hyrax, hares and rodents are no doubt taken but domesticated
animals, particularly goats and sheep, are almost certainly of the greatest
importance to the leopards diet, and this brings them into direct conflict
with man.
Other Mammals
Two other large carnivores still occur in Yemen, the Arabian
wolf (Canis lupus arabs) and the striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) and reports
indicate that both are still widespread but have suffered considerable
declines since the 1980's, and in fact have become locally extinct in several
localities. Apart from direct persecution the wolf is almost certainly
inter-breeding with the packs of feral and domestic dogs that roam the
countryside, and a number of the animals we saw had definite wolf ancestry.
The only carnivore that we encountered regularly was the red fox (Vulpes
vulpes arabica), with a single white-tailed mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda)
and a genet (Genetta genetta/felina) as road casualties. One of the "mammal
highlights" was the sighting of the large, almost black, king jirds
(Meriones rex) in the mountains around Juban- however, despite our best
efforts they refused to enter our box-traps.
The only large wild mammal we encountered was the Hamadryas baboon (Papio
hamadryas), in Wadi Mawr and Wadi Taran. Interviewees all knew this large
primate but in many cases they indicated a decline in numbers had taken
place over the past 20 years, and in some areas they had retreated to higher
altitudes. As with all baboons, the Hamadryas has to have access to drinking
water on a regular basis and this makes them particularly vulnerable to
persecution. Although from the mammal point of view western Yemen was disappointing,
this was more than amply compensated for by the diversity of bird and reptile
species.
Birds
With only a few exceptions most of the birds we encountered
were familiar to us from our African stamping grounds but it was especially
exciting to see the large flocks of griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). At
two locations on the Tihama coastal plain, in close proximity to small
towns, we observed 120 and 50 griffons respectively feeding on carcasses
put out for them to clean up. Unlike the "vulture restaurants"
in various game parks in Southern Africa that are run as tourist-viewing
spectaculars, in Yemen the vultures serve the very useful purpose of cleaning
up dead animals that would otherwise rot and become potential health hazards.
Other species that we saw in large numbers and are obviously benefitting
from mans' wastes were the black kite (Milvus migrans), brown-necked ravens
(Corvus ruficollis) and large flocks of fan-tailed ravens (Corvus rhipidurus);
all of which were a common sight in the villages and towns, and most particularly
at their rubbish dumps.
There were a number of images that will always remain with us, such
as the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) finding the first early morning
thermals in the mountains behind Juban, the liquid calls of Bruce's green
pigeons (Treron waalia) in Wadi Taran, the realisation that the near endemic
skittering frog (Rana ehrenbergi) that eluded capture for almost an hour
in a wadi near Hajjah truly deserves its name!
Freshwater fish
Our involvement in a wadi fish ecological study in the United
Arab Emirates caused us to check every freshwater body in Yemen and we
certainly struck gold! Many of the wadis we checked had fish shoals but
the most exciting was in Wadi Tuban, where many thousands of fish (Garra
sp.) were moving upstream in an apparent spawning run. The vast numbers
of large ghost crabs that "invaded" our beach camp at Bi'r Tha'lan
will not be forgotten in a hurry!
Conservation
Although Yemen, as with many other parts of the world, has a
great number of environmental and conservation problems to face, with Arabia's
greatest biological diversity every effort needs to be made to see to it
that Arabia Felix lives up to its name. There is an urgent need to undertake
detailed botanical and zoological surveys throughout Yemen, but most urgently
in the Hadramawt. The African-Arabian Wildlife Research Centre, which we
founded, hopes to be able to undertake such a survey before the end of
the millenium, if the logistics and funding can be put in place, and the
full cooperation of the authorities can be assured.
A number of people helped to make this trip a success; we thank Martino
Smits, Marijcke Jongbloed, staff of the Environmental Protection Council
and Wildlife Dept in the Ministry of Agriculture, David Gillon (HASCO-Shell),
Lissa and Ian Rogers.
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