Thursday, Dec 12, 2013
Al Ain: A project to ensure the captive population of the Arabian sand cat is sustainable and remains genetically healthy was drawn up by experts during a conservation workshop.
The Arabian Sand Cat ‘One Plan’ Conservation Workshop was hosted by Al Ain Zoo — home to the largest captive population of the near threatened species worldwide. A study on how the Arabian sand cat lives in the wild was also devised during the two-day event.
Ganem Mubarak Al Hajiri, Director-General of Al Ain Zoo, said the international zoo community had moved towards bridging the gap between the conservation of captive and wild breeds of the cat.
“The ex situ [captive] element will focus on collections in the Arabian region and the in situ [wild] research will focus initially on Abu Dhabi,” Al Hajiri said.
The initiative, he said, sees Al Ain Zoo as well positioned to continue driving the conservation of this species.
The participants included some 30 experts from regional and global institutions, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (IUCN), said a zoo spokesperson.
The sand cat inhabits the deserts of Arabia, North Africa and Central Asia. Degradation of the desert environment has led to the decline of many species, including the sand cat. The IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species lists the cat as near threatened, however the threat to many local populations in the region is suspected to be much higher, he said.
“In fact, the Arabian sand cat is classified as ‘endangered’ on both the UAE’s and Abu Dhabi’s regional IUCN Red Lists, with only four reliable sightings in the emirate since 1995,” said Al Hajiri.
Due to the mysterious nature of this species, he said, it is hard to estimate exactly how many are left in the wild. Factors including overgrazing, habitat loss and accidental poisoning aimed at foxes and dogs mean that the wild population could be under threat.
Al Ain Zoo is a member of the World Association for Zoo and Aquaria and is actively involved in several internationally coordinated conservation projects. It works with other like-minded organisations such as the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, the IUCN Species Survival Commission, San Diego Zoo, the Northern Rangelands Trust of Kenya and the Sahara Conservation Fund, to conserve and re-introduce threatened arid land species such as the Arabian Oryx and scimitar-horned Oryx to their natural habitat.
By Aftab Kazmi Bureau Chief
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
