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ZOO MISSION TO YEMEN

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After what is called the Laeanites Gulf, around which Arabs live, is the land of the Bythemaneans. It is a large plain, all of which is well watered and lush with vegetation, albeit only dog's tooth grass, lucern and lotus as tall as a man. All crops are restricted to this and the people cultivate nothing else. For this reason there are many wild camels in the plain and numerous herds of antelope and gazelles, many flocks of sheep and untold numbers of onagers and cattle. Joined to these advantages, however, is a countervailing evil since the region abounds with lions, wolves and leopards so that the natural bounty of the land is the cause of misfortune for its inhabitants.
From:
Agatharhides of Cnidus, 'On the Erythraean Sea', Book 5, fragment 91a from the translation by Stanley M. Burstein, published by the Haklyut Society, 1989. The original text was written in the second century BC. The area described is a wadi on the north-west of the Arabian Peninsula — i.e. the lower portion of the Wadi al-Abjaz, known as Wadi al 'efal, approximately 50 km long and 20 km wide, just east of the Gulf of Aqaba.


By Christian Gross

Faced with the challenge of bringing prosperity and development to the country in such a way that the environmental impact is kept to a minimum, the Yemen government is actively pursuing several policy strands. The driving force behind Yemen's conservation drive is the Environment Protection Council. One of its directors, Nagi Saleh al Towabeh visited Sharjah for the second Conservation meeting held at the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife where he met with Abdulaziz Abdullah al Midfa, Director General of the Environment and Protected Areas Authority. A memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of conservation between Sharjah and Yemen was signed and thus the "Bab al Yemen" was opened for a team from Animal Management Consultancy to visit the country.

As a first effort it was decided to target animal welfare in the two existing zoos, in Sana’a and in Ta’iz, which meant that staff veterinarian, Florine de Haas van Dorsser and myself organised two trips to Yemen during March and April, 2001. Despite their small size it is clear that considerable resources have been devoted to the creation of these facilities. We have often been asked if we think that it can be justified that a developing country (where there are only 28 televisions per 1000 inhabitants) spends money on a zoo. We believe that it is. People want, need and seek distraction, which is the reason why both places prove to be enormously popular. This in turn makes them marvellous tools for enhancing public awareness and promoting conservation.

We found two very interesting zoo collections consisting mainly of Arabian animals. In an attempt to help the Arabian leopard, the government took the known animals into their facilities and the two zoos today have a total of 15 leopards, of which five were captive bred. All of these have been micro-chipped, measured, weighed, given a general health check and samples were taken for DNA analysis. They were all entered into the International Arabian Leopard Studbook. With the agreement of the Yemeni Government to exchange these animals for breeding loans, the genetic stock for a sustainable captive-breeding programme is almost secured.

At present both zoos lack proper breeding facilities for the Arabian leopards, the females tending to kill their progeny due to too much disturbance. The solution Ta’iz zoo found for this problem was to time the pregnancy of a female dog (bitch) in such a way that her delivery coincided with the birth of the baby leopards. The leopard cubs and dog puppies are then switched between parents. It is certainly an ingenious approach to the problem, although at present plans are being drawn up in order to improve upon this situation; not only because these dog-raised leopard cubs may prove unsuitable for the breeding programme, but more specifically to improve the living conditions for the parents.

In both zoos the only exotic wildlife to be found were a number of lions with unusual histories. Transferred to the zoos from the old Imam’s Palaces, the lions from Sana’a zoo are said to be descendants of animals that were wild-caught in Yemen! Hard to believe, but samples were taken for genetic work at a later stage. Evidence of lions living in the Arabian peninsula can be found in the preserved writings of a Greek scholar, Agatharhides of Cnidus, who described a wadi in NW Arabia where local residents protected their animals against roving lions (see box). Ta’iz zoo also has some very handsome lions with the males sporting abnormally dense manes, which extend along their chests and cover the animal’s bellies. They are said to be descendants of lions given to the Imam in 1952 by Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

One of these female lions had an infected claw and needed to be operated on, which provided us the opportunity to take more blood samples for analysis. Since she had cubs and was lactating, a milk sample was also taken. Besides milking lionesses, the main aim at the first stage was to de-worm and vaccinate all the carnivorous animals. Over 100 vaccines were given to a wide range of small animals such as foxes, honey badgers, mongoose and genets housed at Sana’a and Ta’iz zoos.

As we finished our work a day earlier than expected in Ta’iz, we decided to take the long road back to Sana’a via the coastal town of Al Hudaydah. Whilst on the road we indulged in some ad-hoc bird watching and observed Abdim’s stork, Abyssinian roller, African grey hornbill and dark chanting goshawk.

In the early morning in Al Hudaydah we visited the local fish market. Never have I seen so many sharks in one place! We were informed that two to three tonnes of shark alone came through Al Hudaydah every day, with the money being made on the fins. I have serious doubts if this is sustainable.

As a final bonus to a fascinating trip, a Bruce’s green pigeon visited the back garden of the Taj Sheba Hotel in Sana’a. We felt very privileged to have seen so many species and to have met so many wonderful people on our short working visit to the Yemen.






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