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The
Arabian leopard
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It is sometimes difficult, particularly for those
who live in urban centers, to imagine an Arabia in which lions and leopards were
creatures to many of the peninsula's people. But for centuries, the sleek
and powerful Arabian leopard roamed the mountains and the foothills of the
peninsula in large numbers, fulfilling a vital ecological role.
The
numbers of these "big cats" was once so large that there was a
flourishing trade in captive carnivores during the late Hellenistic era and
again during the Roman Empire. Any leopard unlucky enough to be trapped
was likely to end up in a cage in Athens or Rome or a lesser city where they
became objects of show or participants in the blood-spilling "games"
of the period.
The
Greek traveler Agatharchides of Cnidos was fascinated with the animal and wrote
in the 2nd Century BC that,
The
leopards [of Arabia] are unlike those found in Cari and Lycia. Their bodies are
large and they are much better able to endure wounds and pain. In
strength, moreover, they surpass the others by as much as a wild animal does a
domesticated one.
Its
abundance, as well as that of the Arabia's wildlife two thousand years ago, is
evoked later in the same text in his description of the Wadi al 'efal or Wadi
al-Abjaz, east of the Gulf of Aqaba in northwestern Arabia:
...there
is a well watered plain, which because of the streams that flow through it
everywhere, grows dog's tooth grass, Lucerne and also lotus the height of a man.
Because of the abundance and excellence of the pasturage it not only supports
flocks and herds of all sorts in unspeakably great numbers but also wild camels
and, in addition, deer and gazelles. In response to the abundance of
animals which breed there, crowds of lions, wolves and leopards gather from the
desert. Against these the herdsmen are compelled to fight day and night in
defense of their flocks.
Education
and Protection
Times
change, still sleek and powerful, the Arabian leopard still clings to a
precarious existence in mountainous areas ranging from Oman to Jordan. In
Saudi Arabia, small numbers of this once abundant carnivore are known to exist
in the mountains of the Hejaz and the Asir. Now protected as an endangered
species, the exact number is unknown but it may be as low as 100 throughout the
entire peninsula.
The
continued survival of the species depends on the support of programs to protect
from hunting, preserving existing habitats and programs of captive breeding that
can reintroduce additional animals into wildlife reserves.
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Caracal
lynx
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One such organization is the Arabian Leopard Trust (ALT). Formed in 1992
after the well-publicized shootings of several leopards and caracal lynxes in
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by farmers who believed the animals were
responsible for attacks on their goats, the ALT seeks to preserve Arabia's large
cats.
The
ALT's programs are two-pronged. The first is to educate the public to the
presence and importance of these animals and wildlife in general, while the
second aims at developing and supporting programs designed to protect the
remaining wild leopards, lynxes and other animals of southern Arabia.
Hayat,
the Leopard
The
Trust's prime organizer, Marjicke Jongbloed, has tackled part of the educational
challenge through a booklet produced for school children entitled Hayat, the
Arabian Leopard. It is a beautifully illustrated book that tells, from
a leopard's eye view, the days surrounding the fateful hunt in 1993 that led to
the death of one leopard and the serious injury of another in the mountains of
Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. Its inspirational approach is geared towards
developing a positive stance towards conservation in children as a result of
identifying with the story and the local terrain depicted within the book.
The ALT plans to distribute some 50,000 free copies of the book to all schools
within the habitat range of the Arabian leopard.
On
the research and development front, the ALT has begun a program of trapping and
removing caracal lynxes from areas where they might pose a threat to goats and
other livestock. Local residents have welcomed the program as a means of
avoiding both death to their livestock and to the big cats. A breeding
center has been opened in the foothills of the Hajar Mountains. As captive
breeding progresses, the animal will be reintroduced into the wild in areas in
which they can live undisturbed and free from danger. As Jongbloed put it in Hayat,
the Arabian Leopard:
...
she was beautiful and she belonged in these very mountains more than any other
place on earth. Because Hayat the Arabian Leopard has her home in Arabia,
and nowhere else are there leopards like her. Nowhere else in the world
are there leopards that are so tough that they can survive in the hot, desert
mountains. But if Hayat and the few relatives she still has are hunted and
killed, no one will ever again see the beautiful leopard resting in the shade of
an overhanging rock.
David
Tschanz is a medical/military historian currently based in Saudi Arabia.
He is also an epidemiologist, web developer, editor and demographer. You may
contact him by sending your emails to: Desertwriter1121@yahoo.com.
