By Hana Namrouqa, Jordan Times
AMMAN – Gazelles are believed to have become extinct in Jordan due to hunting and the destruction of their natural habitat, according to an ecologist.
The Kingdom used to be home to different kinds of gazelles, but spotting one in the wild nowadays has become a rare occurrence, Ehab Eid, coordinator of field research at the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), said on Saturday.
“This situation requires surveys of areas that gazelles used to inhabit to see if some can still be found in order to reintroduce this species and protect them,” he added.
Gazelles are known as swift animals – some are able to maintain speeds as high as 80 kilometres per hour for extended periods of time. Gazelles are mostly found in the deserts, grasslands and savannas of Africa, but they are also found in southwest and central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. They tend to live in herds and eat less coarse, easily digestible plants and leaves, according to web sources.
“Three kinds of gazelles were registered in Jordan, including the Dorcas Gazelle, referred to as Afri in Arabic, the Goitered Gazelle, called Al Reem in Arabic, and the Mountain Gazelle or the Arabian Gazelle,” the ecologist said.
The Dorcas Gazelle, which used to live in Wadi Araba, is believed to have become extinct as it was last recorded in the early 1980s (Photo courtesy of RSCN)
Categories: Environment, Jordan