Finding slender-horned gazelles in the Sahara's Grand Erg Oriental, Tunisia

Meliane, Mohamed Khalil; Petretto, Marie; Saidi, Amira; Riordan, Philip; Woodfine, Tim; Guedara, Hela; Mahdhi, Sassi; Gilbert, Tania

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2022.104874

Cited by 4 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, G. leptoceros has been observed drinking at oases and wadis where available (e.g., Wadi Muwellih in Egypt- Osborn and Helmy 1980). Conversely, a camera-trap study in Jbil National Park, Tunisia, did not observe G. leptoceros near water resources (based on 19 G. leptoceros detections; in the same study, G. dorcas was observed near water in 144 of 194 detections- Meliane et al 2023b).…”

Section: Ecologymentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Horn profile in females tends to be particularly straight, with the surface annulations being much shallower and less distinct (Anderson and de Winton 1902;Osborn and Helmy 1980). The thin horns of females are prone to deformities, both in the wild (Meliane et al 2023b) and under human care. As with males, a location-based trend is seen in female horn length, with western populations generally having shorter horns: mean 248.4 ± 19.0 mm (from five skulls) compared to 273.0 mm (mean of two skulls) from eastern populations (Groves 1969).…”

Section: General Charactersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Gazella leptoceros(Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

Huffman,

Leslie

2023

Mammalian Species

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gazella leptoceros (F. Cuvier, 1842) is a monotypic African gazelle, most commonly called the slender-horned gazelle. It is one of 21 species in the genus Gazella and is distinguished by its pale sandy coloration, fawn-colored markings, and namesake long, slender horns. Gazella leptoceros is a dune specialist that inhabits the hyperarid northern Sahara Desert between Algeria and Egypt. It feeds on shrubs and low desert plants and ranges over large distances in small groups of 1–5 animals. Because of its very small, isolated populations, G. leptoceros is classified as “Endangered” (EN) on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species and is on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

show abstract

Section: Ecologymentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: General Charactersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gazella leptoceros(Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

Huffman,

Leslie

2023

Mammalian Species

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The antelopes of the Sahelo‐Saharan region are threatened by a combination of anthropogenic factors (Van Velden et al 2018, Ripple et al 2019), with scimitar‐horned oryx ( Oryx dammah ), addax ( Addax nasomaculatus ), and dama gazelle ( Nanger dama ) extirpated from Tunisia. The remaining species, slender‐horned gazelle ( Gazella leptoceros ), dorcas gazelle ( Gazella dorcas ), and Cuvier's gazelle ( Gazella cuvieri ) are at risk from unsustainable hunting practices, competition with domestic livestock, drought, and climate‐change within Tunisia and more widely across their range (International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission [IUCN SSC] Antelope Specialist Group 2016, 2017; IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group and Royal Zoological Society of Scotland 2020; Meliane et al 2023).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Southern Tunisia incorporates the eastern part of the Grand Erg Oriental, the great oriental sand sea, and supports small and declining remnant populations of dorcas and slender‐horned gazelle (Meliane et al 2023). The Cuvier's gazelle inhabits montane areas in northwestern Tunisia.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent monitoring of the Saharan habitat in southern Tunisia has confirmed the rarity of gazelles, as only 9 slender-horned gazelles were detected over a sampling effort of 1,365 km of aerial transects and 351 km on the ground (Meliane et al 2023). The significant population decline of gazelles in the wild Saharan habitat has prompted local and international organizations to increase conservation action.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Temporal and spatial distribution of dorcas and slender‐horned gazelles in a Saharan habitat

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Saharan ungulates have suffered from poaching across their range leading to population declines. Low abundance and habitat inaccessibility have limited the availability of empirical data on desert ungulate ecology in the wild. Our objective was to evaluate temporal and spatial distribution, and home-range sizes of wild dorcas gazelles (Gazella dorcas) and slenderhorned gazelles (Gazella leptoceros) under natural conditions using observations from 14,398 camera-days collected between April 2019 and October 2021 in the 7,700-ha fenced area of Jbil National Park (Jbil NP), Tunisia. We individually identified gazelles in Jbil NP using unique horn morphology.Both gazelle species exhibited nocturnal activity patterns in summer, but diurnal activity patterns dominated in winter. We also detected both species more frequently in the plains than in mountains. Water presence was influential in determining distribution only for dorcas gazelles. Minimum convex polygons (MCPs) were 2,062 ha for both the male and female of the most frequently detected dorcas gazelle pair and 1,527 ha for another solitary male. For slender-horned gazelles, MCPs were 2,280 ha and 2,041 ha, respectively, for a male and a female detected in Jbil NP. The decline and rarity of gazelles in the Sahara Desert have limited the sample size of our observed populations. Our study provides hitherto unknown data on wild populations of rapidly declining gazelle species and contributes to ongoing conservation efforts.

show abstract

Assessing landscape suitability and connectivity for effective conservation of two semi‐desert ungulates in Iran

Almasieh,

Mohammadi

2023

Conservat Sci and Prac

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conservation outside conservation areas (CAs) is more challenging due to increased exposure to human‐induced disturbances. Therefore, it is important to identify and designate new CAs that can protect core wildlife habitat patches, as well as key linkages to promote connectivity. We performed this study to identify and prioritize core habitat patches and corridors for two semi‐desert sympatric gazelles in Iran (i.e., goitered gazelle Gazella subgutturosa and jebeer gazelle G. bennettii) in order to propose the expansion of existing CAs. We used an ensemble distribution modeling approach based on three algorithms (random forest, maximum entropy, and generalized boosting models) for habitat suitability assessment and a combination of resistant kernel and factorial least‐cost path analysis for connectivity modeling. Our results revealed that distance to CAs, elevation, and annual mean temperature were the most influential variables for predicting the distribution of the two gazelle species. We identified 12 and six core habitat patches for goitered gazelle and jebeer gazelle, respectively with a minimum area of 210 km2. Core habitat patches were mainly occurred in the north of the central basin of Iran with a high priority for the conservation of both species. CAs protected up to half of core habitat patches for goitered gazelle and one‐third of core habitat patches for jebeer gazelle. Due to human‐induced disturbances (e.g., vehicle collisions and poaching) outside CAs, it is necessary to increase regular monitoring and establish new CAs based on the identified core habitat patches for the two gazelles. Our findings highlight opportunities of designating new CAs for wildlife habitat and corridors conservation and for promoting connectivity by limiting road impacts.

show abstract

Finding slender-horned gazelles in the Sahara's Grand Erg Oriental, Tunisia

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Gazella leptoceros(Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

Gazella leptoceros(Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

Temporal and spatial distribution of dorcas and slender‐horned gazelles in a Saharan habitat

Assessing landscape suitability and connectivity for effective conservation of two semi‐desert ungulates in Iran

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About