A Field Guide to the Mammals of Egypt. Richard Hoath

of the Great Libyan Sand Sea, while to the southwest the dominant features are the Gilf al-Kebir and the isolated massif of Gebel Uweinat. Typical birds of the region include Spotted Sandgrouse Pterocles senegallus, Hoopoe Lark Alaemon alaudipes, and White-crowned Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga. The mammal fauna of the Western Desert is sadly depleted. Within the last two hundred years or so, the Bubal Hartebeeste, Addax Addax nasomaculatus, and Scimitar-horned Oryx Oryx dammah have all disappeared. The Slender-horned Gazelle Gazella leptoceros is much depleted and it is doubtful whether the Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus still clings on. Typical mammal species extant in the region include Lesser Egyptian Jerboa Jaculus jaculus, Giza Gerbil Gerbillus amoenus, Rüppell’s Sand Fox Vulpes rueppelli, and Dorcas Gazelle Gazella dorcas. The Gilf al-Kebir and Gebel Uweinat represent the last strongholds in Egypt of the Barbary Sheep Ammotragus lervia. The Western Desert’s only Protected Area covers just 1km².

      Four Protected Areas: Hasana Dome Protected Area, Gilf Kebir National Reserve, White Desert Protected Area, and Siwa Protected Area.

The Eastern Desert

      The Eastern Desert is very different from its western counterpart. It broadly consists of a range of sedimentary mountains that separate the Nile Valley from the Red Sea, the northernmost extension of which are the Muqattam Hills east of Cairo. A coastal plain of variable width separates these mountains from the Red Sea. These ranges are dissected by a series of deep wadis that reflect a time when water was the dominant erosion agent in these uplands. Two examples include Wadi Hof, south of Maadi, and Wadi Rishrash, north of Beni Suef. These wadi floors are still often vegetated, in contrast to the barren plateaus, there being sufficient groundwater to support such species as Acacia spp. and Tamarisk Tamarix nilotica. The wadi walls are often precipitous, and dry waterfalls are a common topographical feature. While the Eastern Desert is classified as hyper-arid, when rain does fall it can be torrential and lead to flash floods that are still the dominant erosional force in the region. The plateau tops are extremely arid.

      The fauna of the Eastern Desert is strikingly different from that of the Western Desert, reflecting the very different topography and the importance of the Nile as a zoogeographical barrier. Birds such as the Sand Partridge Ammoperdix heyi, Scrub Warbler Socotocerca inquieta, White-crowned Black Wheatear, and Mourning Wheatear Oenanthe lugens are typical of these deserts. The mammal species show a close parallel to those of South Sinai including the Golden Spiny Mouse Acomys russatus, Bushy-tailed Jird Sekeetamys calurus, Nubian Ibex, and Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena. Recent records appear to confirm this connection with South Sinai with records of Hume’s Tawny Owl Strix butleri and Blanford’s Fox Vulpes cana from the Eastern Desert. An exception is Rüppell’s Sand Fox, which is found in both deserts. To the west, clearly the Nile is not a complete barrier, based on the distribution of the Lesser Egyptian Jerboa and the Lesser Egyptian Gerbil Gerbillus gerbillus.

      Six Protected Areas: Petrified Forest Protected Area, Wadi Degla Protected Area, Sannur Cave National Monument, Wadi al-Asyuti Protected Area, Wadi Allaqi Protected Area, and Wadi Gimal Protected Area.

The Sinai Peninsula

      The Sinai Peninsula is of immense importance in any discussion of the flora and fauna of Egypt. It is an inverted triangle of land, some 61,000km² in area, with a northern shoreline on the Mediterranean and its southern sides defined by the Gulfs of Aqaba and Suez of the Red Sea. It is the land connection between Africa and Asia and, at the same time, the land barrier. It is the land connection because in prehistoric times, i.e., until ten thousand years ago, the climate was such that there was a continuous band of non-desert vegetation across Sinai connecting Asia Minor with the Nile Valley. The zoogeographical traces of this connection can be seen in the Swamp Cat Felis chaus and the Bandicoot Rat Nesokia indica. It is the land barrier because, after this time period, the arid wastes of Sinai represented a barrier to any species colonizing the region. Thus, the Swamp Cat and the Bandicoot Rat have become isolates, species of Asiatic origin now separated from their congeners by the relatively recently barren wastes of Sinai.

      Sinai, however, cannot be considered as a whole since the north and south of the peninsula are very different. The south can be best represented as a continuation of the Eastern Desert, both geologically and zoogeographically. It too is characterized by mountainous terrain dissected by water-eroded wadis. Many faunal species are common to both zones. Amongst the birds these include the two wheatears, the Mourning and the Hooded Oenanthe monacha, Sand Partridge, Scrub Warbler, and, perhaps (it may not still survive in Sinai), Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus. Mammals too bridge the two regions. Those typical of both include the Golden Spiny Mouse, Bushy-tailed Jird and, most recently (in terms of discovery), Blanford’s Fox. But no mammal better emphasizes the similar nature of the terrain than the Nubian Ibex.

      However, Sinai is also characterized by species found nowhere else in Egypt—a result of the isolationist factors mentioned above. Two butterflies, Pseudophilotes sinaicus and Satyrium jebelia, are endemic to the region. A number of reptile species, including the Sinai Banded Snake Coluber sinai, Crowned Peace-Snake Eirenis coronella, and a subspecies of Ornate Dabb Lizard Uromastyx ocellatus ornatus, are restricted in Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula. Amongst the birds, the list is longer and includes the Sinai Rosefinch Carpodacus synoicus, Palestine Sunbird Nectarinia osea, Arabian Babbler Turdoides squamiceps, and Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthopygos. Amongst the mammals, there is one possible (on taxonomic grounds) endemic subspecies, namely, the South Sinai Hedgehog Paraechinus aethiopicus dorsalis. Similarly debatable on taxonomic grounds is the Sinai Leopard Panthera pardus jarvisi, now probably extinct. There are no mammal species endemic to Sinai.

      North Sinai is characterized by low rolling sand dunes, very different from the mountains of the south. From North Sinai, the Negev Jird Meriones sacramenti and Tristram’s Jird Meriones tristrami are found nowhere else in Egypt, while the Fennec Fox Vulpes zerda and the Sand Cat Felis margarita have also been recorded. Of most interest, however, is the very northeastern corner of Sinai where, as mentioned above, rainfall is higher and a number of fauna! species creep across the border from Palestine and Israel. Foremost amongst the amphibians must be the Tree Frog Hyla savignyi, which can be looked for at the base of date palms near Rafah. Birds such as the Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus and Great Tit Parus major now breed, and mammals such as the recently confirmed Marbled Polecat Vormela peregusna and a porcupine species Hystrix sp. are now known to occur.

      One National Park: Ras Muhammad National Park.

      Six Protected Areas: Zaranik Protected Area, al-Ahrash Reserve, St. Katherine Protected Area, Nabq Protected Area, Abu Galum Protected Area, Taba Protected Area.

Gebel Elba

      The rocky massif of Gebel Elba in the very southeasternmost part of Egypt is of great faunal significance. Rainfall, largely orographic, makes this region far less hyper-arid than the Eastern Desert to its north. The richer vegetation dominated by Acacia spp. and Euphorbia spp. supports a fauna more akin to the Afro-tropical region than to the Palearctic. A significant proportion of Egypt’s butterfly species are found nowhere else but in Gebel Elba such as the stunning Colotis danae and Charaxes hansali. Much of the area has yet to be properly studied, but the bird fauna alone serves to indicate the African nature of the biome. Rosy-patched Shrike Rhodophoneus cruentus, Shining Sunbird Nectarinia habessinica, and Fulvous Babbler Turdoides fulvus are just three examples. Amongst the mammal species that are recorded only in Gebel Elba are the Aardwolf Proteles cristatus, Zorilla Ictonyx striatus, and Small-spotted Genet Genetta genetta, all of the Afro-tropical faunal community. Wild Ass Equus africanus may still exist in the area.

      One Protected Area: Gebel Elba Protected Area.