Population development of re-introduced mountain gazelle in the western Empty Quarter (Uruq Bani Ma’arid Protected Area), Saudi Arabia

Uruq Bani Ma’arid (UBM), Saudi Arabia’s largest protected area, is bounded to the west by the southernmost extension of the Tuwaiq Escarpment, a remnant Jurassic limestone massif, and forms part of the extensive sands (mainly longitudinal dunes) of the famous Rub’ al-Khali (Empty Quarter), the largest sand sea in the world. The area was protected in 1993 because of its unique landscape, an intact habitat with little or no human disturbance, and its potential as a suitable re-introduction site for the Arabian oryx, sand gazelle and ostrich. For mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) the area was considered rather unsuitable due to its location at the edge of the former geographical range of the species, and was thought to provide only marginal habitat. Historically, mountain gazelle occurred primarily in more rocky habitats across most of the Arabian Peninsula. The current range includes southern Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, (though recent genetic evidence suggests those from the northern countries should now be treated as a completely separate conservation unit or even species). The IUCN Red List currently ranks the species as ‘Vulnerable’ (A2ad). Mountain gazelle numbers have decreased dramatically throughout their range, particularly in Saudi Arabia. In an effort to establish a population in the southern Tuwaiq Mountains, the Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA) initiated a re-introduction program in 1996 (Dunham Adult male mountain gazelle in its preferred habitat at UBM Protected Are