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Newby, J.
Saving Saharan wildlife
2007 Wildlife Middle East (2): 2-2
Most people see the Sahara as an exotic, barren wasteland. It is in fact full of life, with numerous plants and animals exquisitely adapted to a hot, waterless environment. In what many are calling a "silent extinction", the large bird and mammal fauna of the Sahara is facing an unprecedented conservation crisis. With so many Saharan species teetering on the brink of extinction, the benefits and value they can bring to all our lives will never be realized unless we take action now to reverse the trends that have already brought extinction in the wild to one species - the magnificent scimitar-horned oryx - and threaten the survival of so many others. Both the addax and the dama gazelle are down to their last hundreds in the wild. Saharan ostrich and cheetah populations are almost gone. The once abundant gazelle and bustard populations are now threatened. For the oryx, it's perhaps too late but not for the others if we act now.
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