© David Insall

Species of the Day: Arabian Tahr

The Arabian Tahr, Arabitragus jayakari, is listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. This relative of the wild goat is confined to the mountains of northern Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

The greatest threat to the survival of the species is the loss and fragmentation of its habitat, but illegal hunting and competition with livestock are also major concerns. In the United Arab Geographical range Emirates, where the Tahr population is especially fragmented, conservationists fear that the www.iucnredlist.org results of inbreeding will increase susceptibility to disease and decrease fertility. In 2009, Wadi www.iucn.org/caprinae Wurayah Fujairah, was officially declared as the United Arab Emirates’ first protected mountain Help Save Species area. www.arkive.org In Oman, where the largest populations occur, they are well protected in the Wadi Sareen Nature Reserve under the Diwan of Royal Court. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs rangers protect populations in the Sharqiyah and the Western Hajar mountains. Protection of wild populations is essential, because several captive breeding programmes in Oman have shown the Arabian tahr to be difficult to breed in captivity.

The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership: Species of the Day IUCN (including the Species Survival Commission), BirdLife is sponsored by International, Conservation International, NatureServe and Zoological Society of London.