Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve
( ar, محمية جبل سمحان) is a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
in the area of ''Jabal Samḥān'' ( ar, جَبَل سَمْحَان, "Mount Samhan") in
Dhofar
The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah ...
,
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
. It has an area of and has no permanent population.
Being in the region of the
Dhofar Mountains
The Dhofar Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ظُفَار, Jibāl Ẓufār) are a mountain range in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, they extend from Dhofar Governorate in Oman to Hadhramaut Governorate in Yemen, a ...
, it is one of the last refuges for
wild Arabian leopard
The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive i ...
s.
Data suggests that around twenty Arabian leopards left in the reserve.
Fauna
The most important leopard
prey
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
are
Arabian gazelle,
Nubian ibex,
Cape hare
The Cape hare (''Lepus capensis''), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India.
Taxonomy
The Cape hare was one of the many mammal species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in ...
,
rock hyrax
The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...
,
Indian crested porcupine,
desert hedgehog and several bird species. Occasionally leopards might prey on domestic livestock. Other predators, which are found in the reserve, include
caracal
The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...
,
striped hyena and
Arabian wolf.
See also
*
Wildlife of Oman
The wildlife of Oman is the flora and fauna of this country in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, with coasts on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The climate is hot and dry, apart from the southeastern coast, and the country o ...
References
External links
Leopard in Jabal Samhan
Protected areas of Oman
{{Asia-protected-area-stub