When Noah was told by God to load two of all animals onto a special hand-built ark, there was no mention of the blind shrimp species found only in Israel. There probably was no need to protect the small crustacean living happily underwater – until now.
Only 177 countries behind the times, Lebanon has finally joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), The Daily Star reports. One of the last Middle Eastern countries to get on board, Lebanon has not done well to protect the 100 or so species in the country that are […]
Holiday shopping can be challenging but need it also be horrifying? In Jordan, import duties bloat retail prices. Clay pots and intricate mosaics are too unwieldy to mail, and puppies gestate in less time than it takes for a package to ship back to the States. With these limits on local shopping, I turn to […]
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 […]
The Hula Valley Bird Park offers unique bird and nature-watching opportunities. We birdwatchers sat in a covered safari wagon as lines of cranes criss-crossed the evening sky. More and more cranes began to appear, and soon the air was full of powerful-looking birds calling in hoarse, creaking voices. Hundreds landed to roost in a field […]
A lion even more sickly than this one was stuffed and put on display in a Gaza zoo.
Goldfish have made up a small part of the Iranian New Year festivities for thousands of years, but some activists want this practice to end. A longstanding Zoroastrian tradition, the Iranian New Year known as Nowruz is a time for spring cleaning, visiting friends, banishing the old, and preparing for the new. Beginning at the […]
In the video below the jump, Maltese hunters are depicted shooting Eagles, Falcons, Vultures and other protected bird species. The Avian Influenza outbreak had at least one positive outcome in Egypt: it kept both local and migratory birds safe from hunters. But last year in December the government re-opened the country to what seems to be […]
10 King and 10 Gentoo Penguins imported from Texas are now living at Ski Dubai – an indoor ski slope in the desert! Picture : © Samuel Blanc / www.sblanc.com It’s bizarre enough that Dubai has an indoor ski slope despite outdoor summer temperatures averaging at over 40 degrees Celsius, but now a colony of penguins has […]
Thousands of fruit bats in Lebanon were sprayed with shotgun and AK-47 bullets over the weekend. Thousands of fruit bats could have used Batman’s help last weekend when one or more unidentified assailants unleashed a spray of shotgun and AK-47 shells inside a cave in northern Lebanon. This senseless massacre wiped out at least 5,000 […]
While the Arab world has close ties with their hardy camels, Australia considers their 1.2 million population of wild camels to be nothing more than pests. Camels are valued in the Arab world for their meat, milk, and leather, but in Australia, more than one million wild Dromedary camels are considered pests. They are also […]
Although many people in our region revere wildlife, too often we write about egregious abuse. Here are 7 of the saddest wildlife stories from the Middle East, and what you can do to help such harmful practices come to an end. Many people living in the Middle East believe that it is haram to harm […]
Experiencing the incredible bond between game warden Tonie Joubert and Jessica the Hippo, it’s easy to forget that this is Africa’s most fearsome animal. Having grown up to fear hippos more than any other creature on the African continent, it was with great hesitation that I approached Jessica’s giant canine teeth and powerful gaping jaw. […]
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 […]
Egypt’s first wildlife sanctuary in the Red Sea will ensure that Hurghada’s Indo-pacific dolphins can rest and socialize in peace! Egypt’s Red Sea Governor Mahmoud Assem has established a safe-zone designed to protect the vulnerable Indo-pacific dolphin (Tursiops aduncus). The move, which bans any kind of vessel from entering the Fanous Reef, has been lauded […]