ARABIA FELIX
by Chris and Tilde Stuart
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.