Oman is a small and increasingly popular country that borders Abu Dhabi, the home of Masdar City and the Shams 1 concentrated solar power plant, and it is hosts the world’s second largest population of Loggerhead Turtles. Listed as vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation (IUCN), these marine turtles can weigh anywhere from 300 [...]
Can computer generated Bengal tigers help save the 1850 real ones which remain in the wild? The Life of Pi is a novel by Yann Martel, first published in 2001. It told the story of a boy whose family is shipwrecked while moving their private zoo’s animals from French India to Canada. It was thought [...]
Divers found a dead dugong in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt early this week, according to the environmental advocacy group HEPCA. Immediately after Colona Dive Center alerted HEPCA about the dead marine mammal discovered between Magwaish Island and Gotaa Magawish, the latter sent a patrol boat out to investigate, according to a [...]
There are still a few Iranian Asiatic cheetahs in the wild, but they too are on the brink of disappearing. Global cheetah populations have plummeted over the past century, from an estimated 100,000 cheetahs in 1900 to fewer than 10,000 today. And once upon a time, cheetahs roamed the deserts of Iran. But international scientific surveys recently [...]
It’s hard to convince a sushi lover that the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna doesn’t exist for them alone. I know this because I used to eat the robust pink flesh with abandon in my pre-vegetarian days. And if the wasabi didn’t make my eyes tear up, there wasn’t enough of it mixed in with my heart-exploding sodium-drenched [...]
A disturbing video of an enormous Great hammerhead shark (Sphyma mokarran) being hauled out of a truck in a Dubai fish market reveals once again the failure of authorities to monitor shark fishing in the United Arab Emirates. In the UAE, it is officially illegal to kill sharks with the sole purpose of harvesting their fins, but [...]
Tourists offended by this gruesome display of endangered species reported the Picalbatros restaurant in Hurghada, Egypt to the local conservation agency. Tourists who dine at the Pickalbatros restaurant in Hurghada might be greeted with a gruesome scene: sharks, rays, and parrot fish hanging from hooks, Egypt Independent reports. While some people have turned a blind [...]
Green Prophet recently visited the Hoedspruit Endangered Species center in South Africa to get a better sense of conservation initiatives aimed at restoring the cheetah’s dwindling population. The last cheetah we wrote about was a scrawny, injured juvenile running through the streets of Abu Dhabi - another casualty of the Gulf country’s (illegal) obsession with owning [...]
The Arab Spring in Egypt has been a failure for sharks. Since last year’s political uprising, and consequent deterioration of law enforcement, poachers supplying restaurants with illicit shark fins have driven the Red Sea shark population down by as much as 80 percent, reports Egypt Independent. In 2006, laws prohibiting trading in sharks were passed, [...]
The wolf pictured above is an Iranian wolf, which exists is dwindling numbers throughout Israel, Iran, and Turkey. Our fear of the wolf is historically as deep-seated as our survival instinct, which may explain why only two countries in the Middle East have established official bans against hunting them. Two subspecies of the Gray Wolf [...]
Bluefin Tuna fishing stakes have risen with the adoption of a new electronic monitoring system that will make it harder for frausters to fudge their catch numbers. Although considered largely unsuccessful at preventing the nearly inevitable extinction of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna at last week’s International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) gathering in [...]
This young Egyptian man believes he is the strongest in the world, and hopes to use this gift to battle lions. The surreal story of the Egyptian man who plans to fight a lion in order to generate revenue for his country has taken a bizarre political turn. Following the announcement that 25 year old [...]
This man claims he will fight a 617 pound lion in order to boost Egyptian tourism. A modern-day Egyptian gladiator has reportedly announced plans to fight an African lion. Al-Sayed al-Eassawy claims to have the Ministry of Interior’s blessings to fight the animal in front of the Giza pyramids, all in an exceedingly misguided effort to [...]
A sedated leopard cub less than two months old was among a variety of animals stashed in a suitcase bound for Dubai. Along with a monkey, gibbon, and bear, two sedated leopard cubs were found in an Emirati man’s suitcase at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand. All of the animals were younger than two months old. [...]
Mostly concerned expatriates snag bean bags ahead of The End of the Line screening outside the Pavilion Dive Center in Dubai. A dead dugong was found floating in the Gulf waters near the artificial island development Palm Jebel Ali in Dubai on 2 May, 2011. Listed as vulnerable on the International Union of Conservation’s (IUCN) [...]
What’s weirder that eating slimy fish eggs? Farming them in Abu Dhabi’s desert. Because we have had a multiple-decade infatuation with eating slimy fish eggs, not to mention our obsession with oil and resultant pollution of their habitat, more than three quarters of sturgeon species are critically endangered. As a result, the global supply of [...]
These sick baby turtles covered in barnacles are two of many turtles received for treatment in Dubai. Scientists are puzzled over the record number of mostly endangered Hawksbill turtles being admitted to the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project. The 210 turtles that have been brought in for treatment significantly exceeds the numbers received in previous years. [...]
Environmentalists have called for urgent action to save the last 400 argun palm trees, a rare desert palm tree highly valued by the ancient Egyptians In the remote regions of Sudan and Egypt the argun palm tree- a rare desert tree whose fruit was discovered by archaeologists in Pharaoh tombs- grows under a harsh sun. [...]
From snow leopards to the Pakistani sand cat: The vast deserts, rough mountains and scarce waterways of the Middle East are home to many unique animals. Watch our slideshow of 8 unique exquisite Middle Eastern mammals, birds and reptiles threatened with extinction because of hunting, loss of habitat, lack of prey, or poisoning. SEE SLIDESHOW [...]
Already on her way to international acclaim, Israeli designer Anna Braverman talks to Tafline about the designboom competition, the philosophy of design, and life as a student in Japan. The winner of the Tokyo Designers Week in Japan and designboom endangered species competition, Anna was chosen out of 2,078 participants from 86 different countries. The [...]
Greenpeace calls on ICCAT to close down the Mediterranean Bluefin Fishery at Paris conference. The Japanese aren’t going to let the bluefish tuna resume its predatory ocean going unimpeded any time soon, since that country comprises 80% of its international market. Nor are Mediterranean countries (and their fishermen) – which in large measure supply that [...]
Artists bridge the divide and draw attention to the plight of endangered species. Israel and Iran may be arch enemies politically, but a recent design competition demonstrates that their artists are more alike than different. Although we have featured many Israeli designs in the past, such as these outrageous shoes and this lovely ceramic e-cooler [...]