The dromedary
The country's animal of choice is the dromedary. The camelid has not existed in the wild since Roman times, but its origins lie in the Arabian Peninsula. The Saudis domesticated the camel as a draught and transport animal. It has accompanied the Bedouin in their daily lives since time immemorial. The fastest individuals take part in races and the most graceful in beauty contests. The King Abdul Aziz Camel Festival, held in February in the Dahna desert, is highly renowned. Every year, 30,000 camels from the peninsula's best breeders take part. The beauty of a dromedary can be appreciated by observing its coat, which should be light and shiny; its neck, which should be long, slender and elegant; its head, which should be broad and in proportion to the rest of the body; and its hump, which should be large, straight and positioned as close as possible to the animal's hindquarters. Racing dromedaries are equally pampered, as they can bring in a lot of money for their owners. Dromedary racing is Saudi Arabia's favorite pastime. A racing dromedary must be light, with small legs and long forelegs, a broad, powerful chest and a long tail. The animals are fed an athletic diet of dates, milk, honey, corn and fodder, which keeps them lean and strong. A racing camel can cover 40 kilometers in an hour, reaching a top speed of 70 km/h. Numerous races take place in Riyadh and the surrounding area between November and March, or in Taif in August during the Crown Prince's Dromedary Festival. To afford a racing camel, you need to be prepared to invest at least US$60,000. But the price of an heir to a champion bloodline or multi-prize-winning cracks can reach 30 million dollars! Traditionally, camels were ridden by jockeys, often children because of their weight. But accidents were common, and many races are now remote-controlled. A whip operated by a remote-controlled drill is fitted to the saddle, and the trainers follow the race from a car that drives up the edge of the racecourse at the pace of their mount. The Crown Prince's race in Taif is the best-endowed, with a first prize equivalent to 14 million US dollars.
The mammals of Saudi Arabia
Extreme climatic conditions, urbanization, intensive hunting and off-road driving are all factors that considerably harm Saudi Arabia's wildlife. A general lack of interest in wildlife means that wildlife has been little studied and little preserved in the country. Apart from the most common large mammals and birds, little is known about the fauna. Syria's wild lions, cheetahs and donkeys have completely disappeared from the peninsula. They were mentioned in the texts of pilgrims on their way to Mecca.
The Arabian tahr is a strange mammal of little-known origins, at the crossroads between the goat and the sheep. Cousin species are found in the Himalayas and the Nilgiri mountains of southern India. The tahr is an endangered species that lives in the eastern Arabian Peninsula, from Oman to the Emirates via Saudi Arabia. Its preferred habitat is rocky terrain.
The Arabian wolf is the smallest known wolf species. It has adapted to the harsh desert climate and lives alone or in small packs. Only 2,000 to 3,000 remain in Saudi Arabia. The species is critically endangered and hunted by Bedouins seeking to protect their herds. It is still occasionally seen in the Najd and Tabuk regions.
The fennec is the smallest species of fox. It can be recognized by its sand-colored coat and large ears. It tolerates extreme heat and drinks little. Adapting to its environment, it feeds on insects, small mammals and birds. It can live up to ten years in the wild.
The caracal is a relatively widespread feline from the Middle East to Central Asia and northwest India. It can measure up to 50 cm in height at the withers and weigh 19 kg. It can be recognized by its glowing coat, long, pointed, feather-tipped ears and long, sharp canine teeth. A nocturnal animal par excellence, it is very difficult to observe.
The striped hyena has practically disappeared from the surface of Saudi Arabia and even from the globe. It is considered close to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The same applies to the golden jackal and the badger.
The sand cat is the only wild species to live in the Saudi desert. It is found in the western part of the country, but is difficult to observe, as it moves mainly at night. Its sand-colored forage provides perfect camouflage during the day. It has very hairy legs, which prevent it from burning on contact with the white sand heated by the sun. It spends most of its days sleeping in a den, and comes out at night to hunt.
The rock damsel is a small mammal resembling a large guinea pig or a small marmot. It hides in rock crevices to escape predators. The rock damselfly should be handled with extreme care, as it can transmit leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that can be disabling or even fatal.
The Cape hare can be recognized by its very long ears, which enable it to hear danger coming from afar, and by the white circle around its yellow eye.It is acclimatized to desert regions and feeds on grasses and brush at night.
The Arabian oryx is a sand-colored antelope with very long, twisted horns. Emblematic of the deserts of the Middle East, it was hunted to extinction in the 1970s. It was reintroduced following a conservation program initiated by the Phoenix Zoo in the United States. A 2,200 km² enclosed protected area, Mahazat as-Sayad, has been established in the province of Taif. Other species, such as the goitered gazelle and the red-necked ostrich, are also part of a conservation program in the same reserve.
The Arabian leopard also receives special attention. Only 200 individuals remain on the Arabian Peninsula. In Saudi Arabia, it is found in the Asir mountains. A special rescue program has been initiated by the government. Babies were born in captivity for the first time in 2021. The leopard has been reintroduced to the Taif region, and studies are being carried out to restore and preserve the vegetation essential to its habitat.
The birds of Saudi Arabia
Prey of choice for hunters, Saudi Arabia's avian fauna is also threatened and rare. Birds native to the peninsula include sand grouse, quail, eagles, harriers and larks. Pelicans and seagulls can also be seen on the coast. The Asir mountains are home to rare species such as the griffon vulture, Verreaux's eagle and Barbary falcon. Further south, in the wooded areas close to Yemen, the fragile juniper branches are home to linnets, thrushes, warblers and African flycatchers. The surprisingly rare parasol nests in the Wadi Turabah nature reserve. This is the only place where this bird, a member of the Pelecaniformes family, can be seen on the Arabian Peninsula.
Saudis are great lovers of birds of prey, and the wealthiest among them devote fortunes to breeding them. There is even a specialized clinic, the Falcon Medical Research Hospital, based in Riyadh.
The flora of Saudi Arabia
The little-studied flora of Saudi Arabia is famous in its entirety, but little is known about its distribution zones. Nearly 3,500 plant varieties have been recorded, with a good 1,000 in the Asir mountains alone, which benefit from much more abundant rainfall than anywhere else on the peninsula. The only nature reserve renowned for its flora is located in the Haile province, north-east of Medina. This is the Jabal Aja protected area. Most of the plants found in Saudi Arabia are stunted grasses or scrub. Very few tree varieties are planted, and the date palm is the only one that seems to acclimatize fully to the latitudes of the Arabian Peninsula.
Most of Saudi Arabia's annual rainfall falls in March and April. These waters revive perennial plants, which complete their life cycle in just three months: flowering, germination, seeds. By May, the vegetation has disappeared. In desert zones, the rare plants are concentrated at the bottom of the wadis, the canyon bottoms. In the hostile Rub' al-Khali desert, only 37 plant varieties have been identified, and there are no trees. Prosopis and certain varieties of acacia can nevertheless be observed on the margins of this desert.
The most varied and dense vegetation grows in the Asir mountains. Temperatures are lower here, due to altitudes of between 2,400 and 3,100 meters, and the annual rainfall is more abundant, equivalent to that of the city of Marseille. In the highest parts of the mountain range, a cloud forest grows, with junipers, Arabian euryops, Abyssinian roses, euphorbias and lichens. Around 2,500 meters, evergreen trees include wild olive and camphor. Below 2,000 meters, the ground is covered with succulents, acacias, commiphora, a thorny shrub, and grewis, an ornamental plant with purple flowers.
