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Land Life.

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10/18/2003:  A new campaign aimed to raise public awareness of animal welfare was recently launched in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.    http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-18-2003-46653.asp

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Harrat Al-Harrah
First National Reserve in Saudi Arabia by Prof. Iyad A. Nader, NCWCD
   Within the last 50 years, considerable changes have occurred in the landscape, the natural habitat and the wildlife of Saudi Arabia. Field vehicles, modern firearms, ambitious development programs in various fields, especially in the last two decades, have left their clear marks on the country. Moreover, there is an increasing threat to the country's magnificent marine resources, which are amongst the finest in the world.

http://www.arabianwildlife.com/archive/vol2.2/resrv.htm

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The Arabian Desert, the cradle of many civilisations, produced two famous breeds of animals –the Arabian horse that was used for transport and war, and the Saluki gazelle hound for hunting. The Arabian Bedouins still hunt with the Salukis in packs of between two and six hounds, and they train their Salukis to hunt with falcons as part of a team.   Their intelligence and independence enables them to successfully operate in the hunt without direct supervision of their masters. A Saluki will never drink dirty water and will refuse stale food or milk if someone has put his hand in it.   http://dwc.hct.ac.ae/expatinfo/salukis.htm

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   Not too many Saudi's have pets, usually the families with foreign women in them are the ones with a pet, and the pet's are most likely a bird or cat. Dogs, according to Islam are not clean animals, the only exception to owning a dog is if it is used for hunting or guarding purposes.

   Many Saudi families now have some form of guard animal, one family even has a lion roaming their estate.....

   I have always had some form of pet, usually cats and when my daughter got her cat it became the beginning of a line of kittens in our home. At one time we had 16 cats at once but they soon found other homes!!

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   There are several Veterinarians in each major city offering ALL the normal care for pets and they do many 'house calls' I'm sure, for the larger domesticated animals and prized pets of the privileged.

   Many of the royal family have their own 'live in' vets for their racing horses and hunting falcons.

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Here's something of animal interest:

The story appeared in the LA times in 1988.

LUSENET: STONE-THROWING BABOONS TAKE REVENGE ON DRIVER
"In Saudi Arabia, a man learned a lesson in baboon gang warfare. Apparently, earlier in the week the man was
driving through a mountainous road where he ran over a baboon. Thinking nothing of it, the driver got back in his car and resumed his life. Finally, the grieving baboons implemented their revenge.

  They lay hiding on the side of the exact mountainous road where their beloved pal had been killed and waited for the driver. When the car was spotted, one of the baboons screamed out a signal and the others began to bombard the car with rocks and stones. The driver escaped, sporting newly soiled underwear and a broken windshield."

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/58866330.html?did=58866330&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Mar+28%2C+1988&author=&desc=Monkeys+Seek+Revenge+for+Slain+Companion

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Hamadryas baboons can live for over 35 years. Hamadryas baboons occupy Somalia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and
Yemen.  www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/228.shtml

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08-14-2001 Monkeys kidnap and kill girl in Saudi Arabia: Baboons have kidnapped and killed a 2-yearold girl in the south of  Saudi Arabia. The monkeys snatched the child out of its father-s hands and carried it into the mountains in the Taifa area. Later, the girl was found dead there.  http://english.pravda.ru/society/2001/08/14/12464.html

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Baboons:  Unlike many animals whose numbers have followed an inverse relationship to the rise of human population, baboons have adapted to the presence of man, and their numbers have increased locally, as a result of increased food supply. Thus, the baboons that one sees on the mountain roads of south-western Saudi Arabia are no longer afraid of people but they are still part of a wild population. Their social life has been closely investigated by NCWCD biologists who showed that, unlike their African cousins, the Arabian hamadryas female baboons pair for life, remaining faithful to a single male. Visitors to the baboon areas are requested to refrain from feeding the baboons. It is hoped that they
will gradually adopt more natural behaviour.  www.arabianwildlife.com/archive/vol2.2/sau.htm

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Arabian Horses: The Arabian horse originated in the desert lands of what is now Saudi Arabia. They were prized by the nomadic Bedouin tribes who bred and raised them. Although early written records are scarce, one Arab historian wrote an account in AD 786 which attempted to record the history and pedigrees of the Arabian horse, going back to 3000 BC.  www.equisearch.com/breeds/a_f/arabianprofile/index.html

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Preserving the Arabia Horse in it's ancestral Land: King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, here at a race (above) with Riyadh Governor Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, actively support efforts to preserve and propagate the Arabian horse, which is a living part of the Kingdom's rich culture and heritage.  Nice article and pictures  www.saudiembassy.net/publications/magazine-spring-97/horse.htm

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