There are fewer than 200 Arabian Leopards in the wild.
There are fewer than 200 Arabian Leopards in the wild.
There are fewer than 200 Arabian Leopards in the wild.
There are fewer than 200 Arabian Leopards in the wild.

Local species 'face extinction'


  • English
  • Arabic

Abu Dhabi // Native species including the Arabian leopard, tahr and houbara bustard are under threat of extinction, according to an updated list of the world's most endangered plants and animals. The Arabian leopard is among 188 mammals deemed critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The group's "Red List", which is considered the most respected inventory of biodiversity, also says the tahr, a mountain goat found only in northern Oman and the UAE, is endangered, while the houbara bustard is vulnerable to extinction. The report, which covers more than 44,000 animal and plant species, warns that a quarter of all the world's known mammals face extinction and many animals will vanish before they are ever known to science. According to the IUCN, there are now fewer than 200 Arabian leopards in the wild. Once a common sight in the mountains of Oman, Yemen and Saudia Arabia, there have been no officials sightings of the big cats in the UAE for more than a decade. Habitat depletion, hunting and the loss of natural prey, such as the tahr, have all contributed to its decline. There are thought to be fewer than 5,000 tahr left and sightings of the goat, which has a long, reddish-brown coat and a dark stripe running down its back, are rare. While some populations have increased through protection, the group says the species likely continues to decline overall. The numbers of houbara bustard, a sandy, speckled bird, have slipped dramatically due to falconry. "The principal threat is from over-hunting by Middle East falconers, largely but not exclusively on the species' wintering grounds. Habitat loss and degradation compound this problem," the report says. The UAE has launched a number of conservation programmes focusing on the three species. The Sharjah Breeding Center for Endangered Arabian Wildlife, located 30km south of Sharjah city, is one of the few places in the world that breeds Arabian leopards. The Wadi Wurayah area of Fujairah, where the leopards are believed to survive, is also being turned into the country's first mountainous national park under an expansion of the protected areas programme. The Hajar Mountains, the location of the country's only year-round waterfall and one of the three remaining areas in the UAE where the tahr survives, is expected to be designated a protected zone by the end of the year. The National Avian Research Center has bred and released some 200 houbara bustard since 2004, and hopes to raise that number to 5,000 by 2013. The authors of the report, which was published in the journal Science this week, say they have insufficient evidence to classify more than 800 other species of mammals around the globe, meaning the number of those under threat could be much higher. But there is a glimmer of hope among the bleak assessments. The populations of at least five per cent of species on the list are on the rise. The Arabian oryx, one of the largest of the antelope family and an ancient inhabitant of the peninsula's desert, was rated as endangered but is on the verge of being reclassified as vulnerable from 2011 as long as populations remain stable or improve. There are fewer than 1,000 of the black and white animals in the wild, the report says. In March 2007, the first phase of the UAE's oryx reintroduction plan got under way, and 100 of the animals were released into a desert reserve in Abu Dhabi. The programme aims to re-establish a self-sustaining wild population. The IUCN did not classify the UAE's oryx population as wild because, although they have been released into the desert, supplementary forage and other management measures are taken. Jan Schipper, the lead author of the mammal survey, called for an international coalition to save species, saying countries should be held responsible for the survival of animals within their borders. "For mammals there is no bailout plan. There is no long-term conservation strategy that is going to prevent species extinction in the future. As human beings, we should be ensuring that we don't cause other species to go extinct." * Additional reporting by AFP

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Result

2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,950m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).

2.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.

3.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,600m; Winner: Native Appeal, Adam McLean, Doug Watson.

3.45pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,950m; Winner: Conclusion, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.

4.15pm: Handicap Dh100,000 1,400m; Winner: Pilgrim’s Treasure, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.

4.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m; Winner: Sanad Libya, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

5.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,000m; Winner: Midlander, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ICC Intercontinental Cup

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (captain), Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Saqlain Haider, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Naveed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Boota, Amir Hayat, Ashfaq Ahmed

Fixtures Nov 29-Dec 2

UAE v Afghanistan, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea, Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Ireland v Scotland, Dubai International Stadium

Namibia v Netherlands, ICC Academy, Dubai

Six large-scale objects on show
  • Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
  • The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
  • A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
  • Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
  • A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
  • Torrijos Palace dome
Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

The biog

Name: Salvador Toriano Jr

Age: 59

From: Laguna, The Philippines

Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips

Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.