(Editor's Note: This article was first published in Tribulus, Bulletin of the Emirates Natural History Group (Vol. 2.2, October, 1992, pp. 34-36. For more information on the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia, please contact Mr. Jennings at the above address.)
From the creation of the Peoples DemocraticRepublic of Yemen (PDRY) in 1967, to the time of its union with theYemen Arab Republic in May 1990, it was generally very difficult forWestern naturalists to visit the country. This country has beenknown colloquially as 'South Yemen,' but this is a misnomer, becauseon average, South Yemen was further north than North Yemen (YAR). Now that the two countries are joined I prefer to use the term'Eastern Yemen' to refer to the former South Yemen (PDRY). Althoughthe country was barred to the west for so long a number of scientistsfrom Eastern Europe did visit the region and have published theirresults. Notable among these was an important survey of the floraand fauna of the Socotra Island in the early 1980s by a combinedEast German and Aden University team, led by Dr. Wranik. In recentyears a trickle of Western Scientists has been able to visit thecountry. Among the first of these was the ornithologist Dr. JohnAsh, who visited Aden and nearby areas in 1984 under UNEP sponsorshipto study the serious pest status of the introduced INDIAN HOUSE CROWCorvus splendens (Ash, 1984; Ash, 1988). That study resultedin a control program, commencing in 1986, which by May 1989 hadeliminated 241,000 crows in the Aden Governorate area alone(Jennings, in press). The crow has been greatly reduced in numbersbut is still a serious pest. Other more recent visitors haveincluded Dr. Anthony Miller of the Royal Botanical Gardens,Edinburgh, and Luigi Guarino, UNFAO, who studied the botany ofSocotra and the extreme eastern part of Yemen, as well as collectingplant specimens for the FLORA OF ARABIA project.
I was fortunate to be able to visit eastern Yemen for three weeks in October and November 1989 for the purpose ofa survey for the ATLAS OF THE BREEDING BIRDS OF ARABIA project. Mysubsidary tasks included a follow-up study to the Ash report on theIndian House Crow and local crow control programs, and to look intothe possibility of the Ornithological Society of the Middle Eastmounting a full scale survey of the country.
Thanks to the assistance of the thenMinistry of Agriculture in Aden I was able to travel widely withinthe counrty, including the full length of the coast from Aden to theborder with Oman, and in the interior, to Wadi Hadramawt, Wadi Hajar,Laudar, and Al Dali. Although primarily interested in the breedingfauna, I collected as much information as I could on the environmentgenerally and on conservation issues.
In comparison with many other parts ofArabia, where overgrazing, deforestation, erosion and pollutionpresent serious problems, the environment of eastern Yemen was in arelatively healthy state. One reason for this might have been thatno financiaal encouragement was paid to bedouin to increase the sizeof their flocks, nor any subsidy to pay for grain during periods whenthere was little grazing. This means that, unlike the situation inthe more prosperous states of Arabia, the rangelands hold no morestock than they can naturally support. Where the bedouin are givensubsidised grain, the higher population of animals means, inevitably,that over-grazing occurs. With the fewer bedouin in the desert as aresult, secondary effects such as cutting down of trees for firewoodis less pronounced. Native charcoal burning was noted in some areasbut a much greater impact was made by commercial lime kilns whichrequired large quantities of wood. Fortunately, most of the woodbeing burnt appeared to be the introduced MESQUITE Prosopisjuliflora.
In the latter years of the PDRYadministration the authorities banned the use of persistent pestcontrol agents such as aldrin and dieldrin, mainly as a result ofWorld Bank pressure. Agricultural specialists told me that thisresults in a problem with some crop pests as alternative pesticideswere not always effective. Physical pollution by domestic rubbishwas much less apparent in eastern Yemen than elsewhere in Arabia. This was because the country was relatively poor and underdeveloped;the variety and quantity of imported foods (and their wrappings), andconsumer goods were at much lower levels. The coast was noticablyoil-free and largely clear of domestic refuse.
Large mammals, especially carnivores, aregood indicators of the health of the environment. It is clear thatthe status of predators in eastern Yemen is at least as good as anyother parts of Arabia, although there is still considerable causefor concern. In a short specialised survey such as my own I couldnot hope to survey carnivores, but reports and notes I collected areencouraging. WOLF Canis lupus and STRIPED HYAENA Hyaenahyaena were reported to be common, from the edge of the EmptyQuarter to just outside Aden. CARACAL LYNX Caracal caracalhas been recorded recently from over a wide area from near theDhofar border in the east, to the border with the former North Yemenin the west. The HONEY BADGER or RATEL Mellivora capensis andRED FOX Vulpes vulpes also occur widely. The ARABIANLEOPARD Panthera pardus survives and at least four individualsare known to have been shot in the last few years, indicating thespecies occurs quite widely. Much of eastern Yemen is remote andmountainous, very suited to the leopard. There have been no recentreports of the ASIATIC JACKAL Canis aureus, but I wasinformed of an intriguing, unconfirmed, reference to a possibleCHEETAH Acinonix jubatus sighting in the mid1980s. (One of thelast verified cheetah records came from eastern Yemen, 80km NW ofHabarut, in March 1963, Harrison, 1972). Ungulates include theIDMI (MOUNTAIN GAZELLE) Gazella gazella and the RHEEM (ARABIAN GAZELLE) Gazella subgutturosa which were reported in1989 from several localities. I was able to establish that IBEXCapra ibex was still widespread in eastern Yemen, especiallyin the Wadi Hadramaut area, the eastern border near Oman and in thecoastal mountains near Mukalla. However, everyone I questionedagreed that it was very much reduced in numbers over the last tenyears. Like all large mammals in Arabia, the ibex is susceptible tohunting pressure and in a country where the bedouin often havesub-machine guns, key species like this are badly in need ofprotection through the establishment of effective observation lawsand reserves.
Other interesting large mammals includePORCUPINE Hystrix indica, which is widespread, and HAMADRYASBABOON Papio hamadryas, limited to the western mountainswhere, as elsewhere in south west Arabia, they are a serious croppest.
The border area of eastern Yemen with SaudiArabia and Oman was the last refuge of the southern population of theARABIAN OSTRICH Struthio camelus syriacus. The last wereprobably hunted in this area as late as 1920-30 (Jennings,1986)although, even today whole eggs can be found in sand dunes in thisarea (Walker, 1981: Gallagher,1988). Important bird species ineastern Yemen, in terms of their rarity in Arabia, include theHOUBARA BUSTARD Chlamydotis undulata, which is likely to breedin some parts of the country, ABDIM'S STORK Ciconia abdimiiand BLACK-WINGED KITE Elanus caerulus. All ten Arabianendemic landbird species occur in the border area with the formerYAR. It may be possible that the houbara has a healthier populationin Eastern Yemen than anywhere else in Arabia, both as a breedingbird and as a winter visitor, because organised no-expense-sparedhunting parties, which have existed elsewhere in Arabia, have beenabsent from eastern Yemen. The ARABIAN BUSTARD Ardeotis arabshas not been seen in the country in recent years. Despitesuggestions by Meinertzhagen(1954) the BALD IBIS Geronticuseremita was probably never a breeding bird in southern Arabia andhas not been seen in eastern Yemen since his own record at Laudar in1949. Vulture species are apparently on the decline in the area aselsewhere in Arabia (Jennings,1988). Surprisingly I did not see asingle GRIFFON VULTURE Gyps fulvus, during my survey. TheEGYPTIAN VULTURE was widespread, although apparently not so numerousas in former years. The LAPPET-FACED VULTURE, which is now known tobreed over a large area of central Arabia, probably also occursover much of eastern Yemen. I saw one on the edge of the EmptyQuarter in November 1989, only the second record for the formerPDRY.
On the sandy coast near the border with Omanit was encouraging to see a large area completely covered by thenesting depressions of turtles (species not determined). I estimatedthat there were at least 500 turtle nesting depressions in this area,with no evidence of interference by local inhabitants. The seayields an abundant fish crop to local fishermen. There appeared tobe no infrastucture to freeze, process and transport fish crops, andfishing activities appeared mainly for sardines and whitebait for thelocal economy, to be used for fertilizers and animalfodders.
One part of the former PDRY where the floraand fauna are of special interest is Socotra island. Here, no lessthan five bird species are endemic, and all are poorly studied. These endemic birds are the SOCOTRA GRACKLE Onychognathusfrater, SOCOTRA ROCK BUNTING Emberiza socotrans, SOCOTRASUNBIRD Nectarinia balfouri, SOCTRA WARBLER Incana incanaand SOCOTRA CISTICOLA Cisticola haesitata. I was not ableto visit Socotra myself but I will hopefully be included in theitnerary of the forthcoming OSME survey.
Plants which are of special interest includethe endangered BANKOUALE PALM Livistona carinensis which isknown to occur only in three widely scattered populations, inDjbouti, Somalia, and Wadi Hajar in eastern Yemen. Until veryrecently, this palm tree was highly sought after by the localinhabitants in Wadi Hajar for roof timbers, because it is regarded astermite resistant. The stands of this palm in Wadi Hajar were verymuch under attack from builders until my vist in1989, threatening towipe out the total Arabian population of about 2,000 palms. When Ivisited the site there was no regeneration and suckers were burntaway to get to the main trunk. Fortunately the mamoor(village chief), following pleas and advice from visitingbotanists, had agreed, early in1989, to place a ban on the fellingand buring of this palm, and these measures appeared to have beenremarkably effective by the time of my own visit.
In 1989 environment andconservation-oriented legislation in the former PDRY was rudimentaryand limited to two laws, one concerned the protection of plants,which includes control of tree felling, and another which bannedhunting of birds and animals and the keeping of wild animalsprivately. Theses laws were largely ignored as there were onlylimited resources available for enforcement. Unforunately, gunownership is widespread and the traditional Arab love of la chasse isas strong as ever. However, the government at the time did haveplans for more gun control and there was an increasing andencouraging tendency for the bedouin to adopt a settled existence.Since unification with North Yemen in May 1990, presumably therespective environment laws of the two countries would berationalized but this will almost certainly be a low priority of thenew government, which has many other pressing issues torationalize.
In late 1989 there were no protected areasin eastern Yemen other than some small fenced experimental areas tostudy plant regeneration for rangeland use. Perhaps the Bankoualepalm grove of Wadi Hajar could be the first target for such areserve, especially as the surrounding area is known to hold ibex,leopard, wolves, and other large mammals. In addition a WildlifeResearch unit has recently been set up at Al Kod, in the AbyanGovernorate, as part of the Research and Extension Department of thethen PDRY Ministry of Agriculture. This boded well for futurewildlife work in eastern Yemen, but the present situation is unknown. Nabeel Obadi, the wildlife officer who was in post in November 1989,had just published what is probably PDRYs first (and last)environment-oriented book in Arabic, The Birds of South Yemen (Obadi, 1989).
I would like to express my sincere thanksto all those who made my visit to the former PDRY a success. Especially warm thanks go to Dr. Abdulwahad O. Mukred, Director ofResearch and Extension Department of the then Ministry ofAgriculture, who provided much logistic assistance, and to NabeelObadi of the Wildlife Research Unit, who provided much information. Thanks are also extended to the National Commision for WildlifeConservation and Developement, Riyadh, for sponsorship of the ABBAproject and my air ticket to Aden, and to the Ornithological Societyof the Middle East for a cash grant towards my expenses.
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