干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The populations of the three gazelle species native to Saudi Arabia have been greatly reduced over the last fifty years. The Saudi gazelle Gazella (dorcas) saudiya is almost certainly extinct in the wild. Scattered populations of the mountain gazelle Gazella gazella still occur in the mountains of western Saudi Arabia and in the northern deserts. There is also one substantial population of the subspecies G. g. farasani on the Farasan Islands in the Red Sea. Sand gazelle Gazella subgutturosa marica are only found in two areas on the fringes of the Nafud desert in the north. As a result of the protected area system being established by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, some populations of the two remaining species of gazelle can be expected to survive despite continued hunting pressure and overgrazing over much of the Kingdom, but their future is bleak outside protected areas.