The Endangered Arabian Tahr: Behavior, Ecology, and Threat Status

Abstract

The Arabian tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) is a mountain goat endemic to the Hajar Mountains of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Arabian tahr are little known and seldom seen because they inhabit steep, rugged, and inaccessible terrain that they use to avoid and outmaneuver potential predators such as wolf and caracal. The species is uniquely adapted to survive in a hot, arid ecosystem with low productivity. Arabian tahr select higher elevations which receive more frequent fogs, have higher vegetation diversity, and lower temperatures. Shade habitat is highly selected by tahr to thermoregulate and an essential resource to help reduce body temperature. The low productivity of tahr habitat has also led to the species having a small group size, low density, and low fecundity, making the species more vulnerable to extinction. Arabian tahr are classified as Endangered, with fewer than 2500 mature individuals in the wild, and a declining population due to poaching, displacement by domestic goats, habitat loss from mining, and reduced habitat connectivity. As Arabian tahr are already close to their thermal limit of functionality they are also uniquely susceptible to climate change.