Seventy-nine
species of living terrestrial mammals are recorded in Saudi Arabia.
Large mammals are important elements in the ecosystem as their status
is an indicator of the health of the system. In the recent past,
large mammals have been under considerable pressure. Some vanished
from the country most of the others became rare and threatened.
Four
species became extinct within the last 500 years. The last Asiatic
lions (Panthera leo persica) are known to have been killed in the
late 1800's. Similarly, the last surviving Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx
jubatus venaticus) in the Kingdom was killed in the early 1950's
in an area in the north between the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.
The Saudi gazelle (Ifri) Gazella saudiya is believed to have vanished
from the country in the early 1980s. The last record of the onager
(Equus hemionus hemippus) in the Kingdom was recorded in the early
1900's.
The
Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx was present in large numbers throughout
most of the peninsula during the 1800's. However, their numbers
and their range continued to decrease in the 1900's and the last
oryx in the wild was killed in the early 1970's. Thanks to the international
efforts in the Operation Oryx and the captive breeding and reintroduction
programme of the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and
Development, these beautiful endemic animals are doing real well
in the Protected Areas.
The
three Arabian gazelles were known to be widespread and present in
large numbers up to the 1930's. Then their numbers started to decline
up to the 1980's where the Saudi gazelle (Ifri) Gazella saudiya
disappeared. The numbers of the other two species, sand gazelle
(Reem) Gazella subgutturosa marica and mountain gazelle (Idmi) Gazella
gazella cora, continued to decline until the NCWCD was established
in 1986. Again the breeding and re-introduction programme was so
successful that these two endemic subspecies are doing well in the
Protected Areas.
The
status of the other large mammals varies among the species. The
Arabian leopard Panthera pardus nimr is highly endangered. The Nubian
ibex Capra nubiana is rare and present in isolated populations.
All the remaining carnivores, except the red fox Vulpes vulpes,
are in low viable populations. The baboon Papio hamadryas is the
only large mammal that can be considered to be over-abundant, causing
problems to farmers and local people.
Most of the smaller mammals, including the insectivores, bats, hares
and rodents, are either widespread or poorly known and need further
study to ascertain their status.
Species
and subspecies endemic to Arabian Peninsula
Endemism
is apparent in the mammalian fauna of Saudi Arabia.
Twelve mammalian taxa are endemic to Saudi Arabia. These include:
Two bats;
One hare; five rodents; one carnivore and three ungulates.
Order Chiroptera
Rhinopoma microphyllum asirensis Nader & Kock, 1983
Nycteris thebaica najdiya Nader & Kock, 1983
Order Lagomorpha
Lepus capensis arabicus Ehrenberg, 1833
Order Rodentia
Gerbillus cheesmani arduus Cheesman & Hinton, 1924
Meriones rex philbyi (Morrison-Scott, 1939)
Meriones libycus arimalius Cheesman & Hinton, 1924
Meriones crassus longifrons Lataste, 1884
Psammomys obesus dianae Morrison-Scott, 1939
Order
Carnivora
Panthera pardus nimr (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833)
Order
Artiodactyla
Oryx leucoryx (Pallas, 1777)
Gazella subgutturosa marica Thomas, 1897
Gazella saudiya Carruthers & Schwarz, 1935 (extinct)
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