Given the many development priorities of
the Yemen Arab Republic, it is not surprising that little
attention has been paid to conservation of the country's wildlife.
The scientific study of animal species in Yemen is scant, confined
for the most part to analysis of specimens brought back by Western
travelers. Yet the range of tropical species&emdash;birds,
mammals, fish, insects and the like&emdash;may be the widest and
most unique on the Arabian Peninsula. The fauna here not only has
links to other parts of the Peninsula, but also has affinities
with many species from East Africa. Thus, Yemen's wildlife is a
fertile field for future study.
In November, 1987 I traveled to Yemen on
behalf of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Washington, D.C. for a
project funded through the Biological Diversity Program of the
U.S. Agency for International Development. The primary purpose of
the trip was to look into the issue of rhinoceros conservation,
since Yemen is one of the major consumers of rhino horn. However,
it was apparent to me from the start that rhino conservation would
mean little in a country that in fact has no rhinos. The ultimate
issue of ending the trade, now illegal, in rhino horn must be seen
as a conservation problem related to the conservation of Yemen's
own endangered and rare species.
The rhino, unfortunately, is facing the
same fate as the dinosaurs. In the past two decades 85 percent of
the world's rhino population has been decimated through poaching.
Today only some 10,000-11,000 rhinos exist, mostly in Africa, with
one Asian species down to its last 50 survivors. Rhinos are valued
for only one thing&emdash;a horn that looks rather unattractive in
real life but commands exorbitant prices for those who use it.
Half of the horn probably goes to Asia, where it is used in a
variety of mendicants, while the other half ends up as dagger
hilts in Yemen. Today far less rhino horn is entering North Yemen,
due to government restrictions and the skyrocketing costs of the
banned commodity. A kilogram of rhino horn is now worth $1500 in
Yemen.
The irony is that there is nothing in
particular about the rhino that makes the horn attractive in
Yemen. Rather, it appears to be the characteristics of the horn as
it ages that appeal to the tastes of dagger wearers. The horn is
said to improve with handling and skin contact; it also gains a
translucent quality and yellowish color not unlike amber in time.
The fact that it has been a prestige item in the region since even
before the Islamic period adds, of course, to its value. Other
horn materials, as well as silver, wood, and even plastic, have
been used, but nothing now approaches the value of rhino horn.
Inexpensive water buffalo hilts are readily found in the Sanaa
suq, but these are not in the same league with the rhino horn. The
problem, then, becomes one of finding an acceptable alternative
for luxury hilts. Is there a species of animal which is not
endangered yet has a horn with similar qualities? It is certainly
worth a future project to provide samples of other materials to
the dagger makers.
In the long run interest in rhino horn
for daggers will not slacken unless wildlife conservation is
promoted to the people of Yemen. Few people who would like to buy
rhino daggers know the full extent of the danger facing rhinos. It
is also hard to relate to a problem not within the country's
borders. The best, and probably the only, approach to increasing
demand for rhino horn is to promote awareness of the threat of
extinction facing some of Yemen's own species. There are in fact a
number of rare and endangered species, most notably the gazelle
and the ibex.
Both the gazelle and the ibex figure
prominently in Yemeni literature and folklore. A walk through the
new National Museum in Sanaa will show the importance of the ibex,
with its curved horns, in the iconography of pre-Islamic South
Arabia. In 1977 the government passed a law forbidding anyone to
hunt gazelles in Yemen for a span of ten years. Now that this law
has expired, there is an urgent need to pass pending legislation
to protect the full range of endangered species in the country.
The problem is that such legislation easily gets lost amidst the
priorities that the government understandably must address. Even
the Department of Wildlife and Zoos in the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries does not yet have the staff or funding to press the
issue and initiate projects.
Despite the current financial problems,
now is the time to begin protecting wildlife in Yemen before it is
too late for several species and certain habitats. The priority of
my project was to design a strategy to start the ball rolling on
wildlife conservation. There are a number of present initiatives
within Sanaa University which should be supported, particularly
surveys of the flora and fauna of the country. One needs to know
what is there before deciding which species are in greatest
danger. It is also important for international conservation
organizations to become involved in the country and help build up
the capabilities of the government and the university to deal with
conservation. Finally, it is important to reach the people with
news about their rich animal heritage and the importance in saving
it. Television documentaries, articles in the paper, and coverage
of existing conservation efforts will all help. And as Yemen
grapples with preserving its own unique wildlife heritage, the
future for the rhino will look brighter.
