Endangered gazelles find Libyan ‘safe haven’

Volunteers are preparing to release three of the eight rhim gazelles — wrapped in protective blankets — on Farwa Island. (AFP)
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Updated 28 July 2024
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Endangered gazelles find Libyan ‘safe haven’

  • Gazella leptoceros has been classified in the IUCN’s “Red List of Threatened Species” since 2016

FARWA: Cocooned in white bags and nestled in the arms of volunteers, eight young rhim gazelles — an endangered species native to North Africa — have been transferred to an uninhabited Libyan island.
Environmentalist hope their new home on Farwa Island, near Tunisia, will be a haven for the vulnerable animals.
Also known as Gazella leptoceros or simply rhim, the slender-horned gazelle lives in desert areas in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.
However, its population has declined significantly as it is a prized target for hunters.
According to an International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, assessment in 2016, there were only between 300 to 600 mature rhims in the North African wild. Environmentalists “wanted to relocate the wild animals in Farwa,” a 13-km-long sandbar, as part of the gazelles’ conservation efforts, said Mohammed Al-Rabti, one of the volunteers. Rabti added that the first group of rhims was released a few weeks ago, “followed by eight individuals, including one male and seven females,” on July 18.

BACKGROUND

Activists have long warned that coastal erosion and rising water levels are among the Farwa island’s climate-driven threats.

The young gazelles took off frolicking as soon as they were released before promptly disappearing behind the island’s wild bushes.
The animal with long, slender horns is small, nimble, and well-adapted to desert life.
It has a pale coat that enables better survival by blending into sandy landscapes.
The coloring is less effective against hunters, which for a while have been the gazelles’ major predators.
Equipped with binoculars, automatic rifles, and powerful four-wheel drive vehicles, some go after the animals merely as a hobby.
Others hunt them for a price going as high as 5,000 Libyan dinars ($1,000) per carcass.
Gazella leptoceros has been classified in the IUCN’s “Red List of Threatened Species” since 2016.
With no official census from Libya, little has been done to preserve their lives.
However, that could be set to change with the work of numerous NGOs and activists.
Farwa, though not their natural habitat, seems to have suited the first group of gazelles released on the island, said Youssef Gandouz, an environmental activist.
They have been “monitored with binoculars and drones and are doing very well,” said Gandouz.
The island is also home to the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), which has become its symbol and is a staging post for flamingos and other migratory birds traveling over Africa to rest before flying across the Mediterranean to Europe.
While it remains uninhabited today, Farwa was once home to Amazigh tribes before they left for neighboring areas inland.
The island appears picture-postcard idyllic, with scattered date palms on white sandy beaches and ringed by the sparkling Mediterranean.
Slain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi dreamed of building a luxury seaside resort with “floating” villas and a golf course.
Once famed for its exceptional wildlife, it faces many threats today, including illegal fishing and pollution.
“Many associations and universities ... are making significant efforts to protect the biodiversity and plant cover” of Farwa, said Jamal Ftess, a reserve manager for the island.
Besides wildlife, environmentalists have also been working to preserve the island’s scarce flora.
Local associations like Bessida have been planting vegetation resistant to wind and sea sprays requiring little water. They say this can help provide animal food and protect against erosion.
Gandouz, helping volunteers to move some of the plants, said it was the second transplantation effort on Farwa.
“The vegetation on Farwa is sufficient” for the survival of rhim gazelles, said Ftess, and Gandouz added the narrow island “is now a haven where turtles and migratory birds can nest and feed.”
But activists have long warned that coastal erosion and rising water levels are among the island’s climate-driven threats.
Ftess said a study conducted by a Libyan university found that “between 1961 and 2006, Farwa’s coastline lost 1.6 meters per year, and between 2006 and 2020, erosion reached two meters per year.”
“We need the help of the authorities to preserve it,” he said.

 


Iran says Israel attack on Gulf gas facility attempt ‘to expand war’

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Iran says Israel attack on Gulf gas facility attempt ‘to expand war’

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday Israel’s attack on a major gas facility on the shore of the Gulf sought “to expand the war beyond” Iran.
“Dragging the conflict into the Arabian Gulf region is a major strategic mistake, likely deliberate and intended to extend the war beyond Iranian territory,” Araghchi told foreign diplomats, referring to the attack on the South Pars refinery, adding that that attack was “an extremely dangerous move.”

Jordan reopens airspace after overnight Israel-Iran attacks

Updated 29 min 21 sec ago
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Jordan reopens airspace after overnight Israel-Iran attacks

AMMAN: Jordan announced the reopening of its airspace Sunday morning after a night of attacks by arch-foes Israel and Iran.
The civil aviation authority in Jordan, which borders Israel, said in a statement that the country’s airspace had been reopened “for civilian flights following a careful risk assessment.”
The kingdom had closed the airspace late Saturday, its second closure since the start of the most intense direct confrontation between Israel and Iran.


Israel’s goal might be regime change in Iran: Experts

Updated 37 min 12 sec ago
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Israel’s goal might be regime change in Iran: Experts

  • Iran’s leadership will define victory as being its ‘survival’: Middle East Institute senior fellow
  • Ex-US Navy commander: ‘It’s a long shot that they’ll come to the (negotiating) table in the near future’

CHICAGO: Israel’s military assault against Iran could continue for weeks, with the possible goal of regime change, a panel of experts hosted by the Middle East Institute said on Saturday.

Panelists included retired Gen. Joseph L. Votel, former commander of US Central Command; retired Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, former commander of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet; and Alex Vatanka, MEI senior fellow and Iran specialist who also teaches at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Vatanka said it is too early to determine if Israel’s main goal besides crippling Iran’s nuclear program is regime change, but “we might be going in (that) direction.”

He added: “That’s certainly what I think a majority of Iranian officials think that Israel wants. The big unknown in all of this is whether the Israelis somehow can get (US President Donald) Trump to buy into it the way he bought into the initial attack on Iran.”

Israel has launched attacks against an array of Iranian targets, including its military leadership and nuclear program. Tehran has responded by launching missiles and drones at Israel.

The panelists were in agreement in their belief that the conflict would not expand to include other countries.

Iran’s leadership will define victory as being its “survival,” Vatanka said, adding that while Israel has the backing of the US and “most of Europe,” Tehran “isn’t getting any help from anyone.”

He said: “I don’t think they’re getting help from what’s left of the axis of resistance … I question what the axis of resistance members can actually do at this point.”

Its members include Hamas and Hezbollah, which have been severely weakened by Israel’s military, and the Houthis in Yemen. It included Syria until the fall of President Bashar Assad in December.

Donegan said: “I think the question is, does Iran think they’ve done enough in terms of lashing back that they can throw an olive branch to get some talks going again? I think it’s a long shot, to be honest, that they’ll come to the table in the near future.”

Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz, but “the problem with closing Hormuz is they then don’t get the economic benefit of flowing their oil out,” he added.

The end game will be defined by how far Israel intends to go with its war, the panelists said.

“The Americans are playing the good cop here. President Trump has kept the door for diplomacy open,” Vatanka said.

“The Israelis are playing the bad cop, saying, ‘If you don’t give Trump what he wants then we’ll come after you.’”


Iran FM accuses UN Security Council of ‘indifference’ over Israel attacks

Updated 56 min 32 sec ago
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Iran FM accuses UN Security Council of ‘indifference’ over Israel attacks

  • Abbas Araghchi: Tehran has evidence to show US forces supported the intense bombardment campaign

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed the United Nations Security Council on Sunday, accusing it of “indifference” over Israel’s deadly attacks on the Islamic republic.

In a meeting with foreign diplomats broadcast on state TV, Araghchi said the Israeli attack “is being met with indifference at the Security Council,” adding that Western governments have “condemned Iran instead of Israel despite it being the side that was violated.”

Araghchi also said Tehran had evidence to show US forces supported the intense bombardment campaign Israel launched against the Islamis republic this week.

“We have solid proof of the support of the American forces and American bases in the region for the attacks of the Zionist regime military forces,” Araghchi said.


Yemen’s Houthis target Israel with ballistic missiles in coordination with Iran

Updated 15 June 2025
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Yemen’s Houthis target Israel with ballistic missiles in coordination with Iran

  • The group has been launching attacks against Israel, most of which have been intercepted

CAIRO: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Sunday that they targeted central Israel’s Jaffa with several ballistic missiles in the last 24 hours in coordination with Iran, as Israel and Iran continued to exchange missile attacks.

The group has been launching attacks against Israel, most of which have been intercepted, in what they say is support for Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war there.