Rescue Park of Saharian Faune

• Origin and goals
• Captive Breeding Programmes
• Mission
• The species
• The Genome Resource Bank
• Staff
• Visits
• Documentary Material
• Bibliography
• Related Links

This is how Prof. José Antonio Valverde describes the place that he chose to breed in captivity and save from extinction three species of North African gazelles, whose populations had diminished drastically in their areas of natural distribution. The first gazelles arrived at the place called the Parque de Rescate de la fauna Sahariana(PRFS), in January 1971, thus concluding what the famous professor had baptized “Operation Mohor”, since the first individuals that arrived belonged to this subspecies of Gazella dama. In Almería, Valverde also counted on “the enthusiastic help of the Director, Manuel Mendizábal and Antonio Cano” (ibid).

The Parque de Rescate de la Fauna Sahariana is a unique facility belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), which became a part of the Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas in May 1975, for the sole main purpose since the first gazelles arrived there, of avoiding the extinction of the large ungulate species that inhabit the Western Sahara: Gazella dama mhorr, Gazella dorcas neglecta, Gazella cuvieri and Ammotragus lervia sahariensis.

Then specific Captive Breeding Programmes were set up. All of them are coordinated by the EEZA scientific and technical staff. The goal of these programmes is for each species to acquire a population size and genetic variability that can ensure their future viability and make reintroduction projects possible in their native habitats, as has already been done in the natural areas of several different countries in North Africa (e.g., Senegal, Morocco, and Tunisia).

This involves meticulous control in crossing the animals to minimize endogamy in their descendents. It also means keeping the Studbook (pedigree registry) for each species, and planning and distributing individuals in different zoos throughout the world to avoid the risks associated with diseases and epidemics that might affect the entire captive population.

The Captive Breeding Programmes at the PRFS are backed by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), and supported by the results from other research projects related to animal behaviour, loss of heterozygosity, the study of parasitemias and infectious diseases, reproductive physiology, molecular genetics, etc.

Through its Captive Breeding Programmes the PRFS has played a very important role in the conservation of the gazelle species it shelters, contributing, in some cases even to avoiding their total extinction in the wild.

The Parque de Rescate de Fauna Sahariana is an assistance and service unit which maintains populations of threatened ungulate species, which are demographically stable and genetically viable, through its Captive Breeding Programmes, and establishes new reproductive groups of individuals in other zoos, reserves and national parks or in their original natural habitats through reintroduction projects.

Furthermore, the Park acts as a logistic support for national and international research groups that carry out studies on different aspects of the biology, ecology, physiology, behaviour, etc., of the species that it shelters, as long as it does not detract from its main function, their conservation. A User Protocol which lays out the rules for using the PRFS gazelles for research purposes is available to these groups.

 

Gazella cuvieri: It is a medium-sized gazelle, that can weigh up to 35 kg. Until the middle of the 20^th century, it occupied a large mountainous territory in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, from which its name of mountain or Atlas gazelle is derived.

The pressures of hunting and progressive deterioration of its natural habitat are the main causes for its decline. At the present time, they are only found in small isolated enclaves, where it is estimated that there is a world population of less than 800 individuals. It is considered “Endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The present PRFS population of around one hundred individuals all descend from three animals (1 male and 2 females) brought from the Western Sahara in May 1975 and one female imported from Morocco that was brought to a private estate in Almería and its blood went on to become part of the genetic stock of the Park’s population in 1987.

The responsible for the species studbook are Eulalia Moreno y Gerardo Espeso .

Gazella dama : The dama gazelle is the largest of the three gazelle species kept at the PRFS. The males are larger than the females, and may weigh as much as 65 to 70 kg. The individuals at the PRFS are the subspecies mhorr. This subspecies is extinct in the majority of its natural territories and at the present time is on the verge of extinction in the wild. Its natural area of distribution extended throughout the Western Sahara, from Morocco to Senegal. The main cause of its decline has been the pressure from hunting to which it has been subjected for many years and this, along with the degradation and fragmentation of its habitat, has led the IUCN to consider it a species in danger of extinction and to be included as a Species I in the CITES Convention.

The PRFS captive population comes from a founding group of two males and nine females brought from the Western Sahara in 1971 and 1975.

At the present time, the captive population is over 280, of which 115 are at the PRFS and the rest in zoos around Europe, the United States and Canada.

The responsible for the species studbook are Gerardo Espeso y Andrés Barbosa. . Gazella dama mhorr is also part of an EEP (Europäisches Ehhaltungszucht Programm). The EEP coordinator is Gerardo Espeso .

Gazella dorcas: It is small and weighs only 15 to 18 kg. Its natural habitat is a broad territory in North Africa from the Atlantic to the shores of the Red Sea, and from the Saharan strip to the Mediterranean coast. At present, there are five subspecies described in its entire area of distribution.

Its decline is due more to hunting than to the loss or deterioration of its habitat. At the present time it is considered a “vulnerable·” species by the IUCN.

The PRFS population is the subspecies neglecta, typical of the western edge of the Sahara Desert, where the first 14 individuals were brought from. The captive population consists of around 85 animals kept at the PRFS, plus those in zoos in Madrid, Barcelona, Jerez de la Frontera, Tabernas Desert Theme Park, Nueva de Llanes, Marwell Zoological Park (United Kingdom) and Hannover Zoo (Germany).

The responsible of studbook and EEP are Teresa Abáigar .

Ammotragus lervia sahariensis: The PRFS also has a captive species of North African goat, the Barbary Sheep, a subspecies typical of the mountainous areas in extreme western Sahara. The taxonomic status of this subspecies is subject to review and its natural populations are currently considered extinct. This is especially due to the strong pressure of hunting to which its populations have been subjected. The captive population at the PRFS originated from three individuals (2 males and 1 female) brought from the Western Sahara in 1975 and at present there are around 50 individuals.

An important tool for the conservation of threatened species is genome resource banks (sperm, ova, embryos). Since 2003, the Parque de Rescate de Fauna Sahariana has had new facilities housing the Institute’s Genome Resource Bank (BRG/EEZA). This is a repository of biological materials, which is managed, handled and studied as an aid to the conservation of the species in the Park’s Captive Breeding Programme. One of its goals is to supply biological materials and technical assistance to research projects of interest for the conservation of these species, for which it has a set of User’s Rulesavailable to research groups interested in carrying out projects that generate scientific knowledge and whose results lead to conservation of the species at the PRFS.

The research project "Reproduction of endangered ungulates (RUPEX)" involves a collaboration between researchers from the Natural History Museum of Madrid, the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the EEZA, who have worked in the development of freezing protocols for the three species of gazelles, allowing the cryopreservation of semen samples from these species at the genetic resource bank held at the EEZA. The following step is to develop artificial insemination techniques to use these semen samples for reproduction. Within the framework of the research project RUPEX, a gazelle calf was born after artificial insemination using cryopreserved semen. This is the first time that a gazelle calf has been produced using this technique and it shows that the genetic resource bank is of great use for the conservation of these endangered species.

The head of the BRG/EEZA is Jesús Benzal.

The Parque de Rescate may be visited by appointment. Call: 950 281045

For further information on the PRFS, the following brochure may be downloaded in PDF format:

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