THE BATTLE TO PROTECT OMAN’S RARE WILDLIFE
▶ Poachers and development threats to species in six national parks
Hamed Al Marzooki lifted an Arabian gazelle calf from the seat in his car and put it in an enclosure behind his house. It had an injured leg and was alone and defenceless after its mother was shot by poachers.
As a ranger with Oman’s Environmental Office for the Preservation of Protected Animals, it has fallen to Mr Al Marzooki, 48, to nurse the calf back to health and then release it into the government’s protected Al Kamil Wal Wafi park in the eastern region.
The 220-square-kilometre reserve is home not only to gazelles, but also to red foxes, wildcats, oryx, eagles and wild goats. Oman has five more of these protected parks, but it is losing the battle to protect wild animals because of poaching and now the development of housing estates for low-income citizens close to park lands.
“Every year these animals go down in number. Poaching is a known problem, but now the government is building new housing estates close to the protected areas where these animals live,” Mr Al Marzooki told The National.
He said road traffic close to the parks had increased as a result of these housing developments, and that led to a rise in the number of animals being run down. Residents of the estates were also trapping animals to sell them as pet, he said. All that comes on top of poachers who shoot them for their meat and skin.
This year so far, 21 endangered animals have been killed on the roads or found in the possession of poachers, according the official Oman News Agency. .
In 1972, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the ruler of Oman, ordered the protection of endangered species, establishing the six protected parks and allocating funds for their upkeep. Rangers are mainly local people such as Mr Al Marzooki.
Khalid Al Zabanoot, a ranger in a reserve in the southern region of Dhofar, shoots in the air with his rifle to scare away poachers when they are within range. He said the same “trick” works for the residents of the housing estates recently built near the park he looks after.
“Rich people in the cities pay big money for the gazelle, oryx or the tahr [wild goat]. They have their own private zoos,” Mr Al Zabanoot said.
The tahr weighs up to 100 kilograms and is much bigger than a farm goat. It is much sought after by rich families who traditionally slaughter it during the Eid feasts, or for weddings.
“A poacher can sell a fully grown tahr for up to 450 [Omani] rials (Dh4,275). They are very elusive, therefore difficult to hunt and that’s why they are expensive,” said Ahmed Al Hassani, who lives close to Al Kamil Wal Wafi park.
In comparison, a normal goat weighing about 25kg costsabout 60 rials.
Mr Al Hassani said a live gazelle, meanwhile, would fetch 2,750 rials and a calf even more if sold to wealthy people with private zoos.
“If you have a live Arabian oryx shot with a tranquilliser gun by poachers, than you can sell it for up to 75,000 rials to a foreign dealer who will then sell it on the black market to a private zoo abroad,” he said.
Environmental experts say the government has lost its way on the issue of protecting wild animals whose numbers have been dwindling.
“These animals are disappearing very fast. The most prized protected animal, the Arabian oryx, is on the verge of extinction. I don’t think authorities realise that this animal is a national treasure,” said Ibrahim Al Ghammari, a wildlife campaigner.
Long periods of drought coupled with speedy modernisation have also taken their toll on endangered species in Oman.
“It is sad that eventually we are going to see the end of these beautiful wild animals because many don’t see them as important to the country,” said Mr Al Ghammari.