First confirmed record of Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica Lichtenstein, 1827 (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae) on Masirah Island, off the coast of eastern Oman in the Arabian Sea

: In Oman, the Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica is known to be distributed in the Hajar mountains of the north, desert plains in central of Oman, and Jabal Samhan foothills & Nejd area in the south. We report the first confirmed record of the Arabian Gazelle on Masirah island, 15 km off the mainland of eastern Oman. This finding was part of a national survey of biodiversity in Oman in which 29 camera traps were set to survey the majority of the island which covers about 400 km 2 . Only two camera traps detected Arabian Gazelle, in an area covering only 22 km 2 . The survey on the island suggests that the population is small and isolated. Future research studies are required both in the field of ecology and genetics.

We report the first confirmed record of the Arabian Gazelle on Masirah island, 15 km off the mainland of eastern Oman.This finding was part of a national survey of biodiversity in Oman in which 29 camera traps were set to survey the majority of the island which covers about 400 km 2 .Only two camera traps detected Arabian Gazelle, in an area covering only 22 km 2 .The survey on the island suggests that the population is small and isolated.Future research studies are required both in the field of ecology and genetics.
The Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica is one of the five ungulate species that occur in Oman along with the Arabian Oryx Oryx leucoryx, Arabian Tahr Arabitragus jayakari, Nubian Ibex Capra nubiana, and Arabian Sand Gazelle Gazella marica (Mallon & Kingswood 2001;Al Hikmani et al. 2015).Arabian Gazelle was previously known as Mountain Gazelle Gazella gazella before the species was split into two genetically distinct lineages (Lerp et al. 2013).The adult males and females have an average body weight of 22.5 kg and 18.3 kg, respectively, whilst the adult male has larger and thicker neck and horns compared to the adult female (Horwitz et al. 1990).The species is distributed across the Arabian Peninsula in arid and semi-arid environments (Harrison & Bates 1964).In Oman, they usually occur in habitats where the Vachellia tortilis (= Acacia tortilis; 'simr' in Arabic) trees appear, which they use as shade and feed on their leaves and seed-pods.Arabian Gazelles are usually found in both plains and rugged mountains but are likely to avoid rocky areas (Al Jahdhami et al. 2017).The species may once have been found in far north of Oman in Musandam governorate, but today they are likely to be locally extinct (Al Hikmani et al. 2015).Northern populations of Arabian Gazelles in Al Batinah governorate have also disappeared but smaller populations still exist in the foothills of the Hajar mountains (Al Hikmani et al. 2015).The Arabian Oryx

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Sanctuary in Al Wusta governorate previously held the largest population of Arabian Gazelles in Arabia with an estimate of 10,000 gazelles, but currently holds a small population (Mallon & Kingswood 2001;Al Hikmani et al. 2015;Al Jahdhami et al. 2017;Alsaid et al. 2019).In the south of Oman in Dhofar governorate, the Arabian Gazelle once occurred all over the arid areas such as the northern foothills known as (the 'Nejd'), the gravel plains south of the Empty Quarter, and the southern coastal plain and plateau of the arid Jabal Samhan massif.Interestingly, reviews of the status and distribution of mammals in the Arabian Peninsula do not mention the presence of Arabian Gazelles on Masirah Island (Harrison & Bates 1964;Harrison 1968).Furthermore, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List also does not include Masirah island within the Arabian Gazelle distribution range.However, the BirdLife International Data Zone contains information on a bird survey conducted on Masirah Island in 1980

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which reported a list of key bird species and non-bird species on the Island.They listed Cape Hare Lepus capensis jefferyi as being endemic to Masirah island and Mountain Gazelle Gazella gazella as present (BirdLife International 2023), although to date there has been no confirmed evidence (e.g., specimen, photograph).
The study area is Masirah Island (Figure 1) which lies in Ash Sharquiyah governorate and is Oman's largest island.It lies 15 km off the mainland in the Arabian Sea.The total area of the island is 649 km 2 and has a human population of 12,000 who are mostly concentrated in the north of the island where the Royal Air Force of Oman has a base (Abdul-Wahab et al. 2020).The island consists of a combination of mountains, cliffs and plains where the highest peak-Jabal Ash Shabbah lies northeast of the island at an altitude of ~210 m (Jansen 2023).The average annual rainfall is approximately 70 mm (Kwarteng et al. 2009).
A total of 29 camera traps (Spypoint & Bushnell) were placed by wildlife biologists and rangers of the Environment Authority on 4-18 December 2022.They were installed on rocks or boulders facing animal pathways and resting areas at a height of 0.25-0.75m above the ground to survey large and medium mammals.The cameras used normal infrared sensors to trigger a three-photograph burst with a 5 s delay between captures.The camera trap sampling area was approximately 400 km 2 (Figure 1).
Here we describe the first confirmed photographic sighting of Arabian Gazelle on Masirah using camera traps.The gazelles were photographed on the northeastern cliffs of the island.Both camera traps (NM24) and (NM25) photographed a male Arabian Gazelle on 7 January and 22 February 2023 respectively (Image 2).Moreover, on 6 December 2022 during the camera trap survey conducted by the Environment Authority, remains of an Arabian Gazelle foot were found close to where the camera traps photographed both gazelles (Image 3).There were also recent sightings by locals in the area.Regardless of a fairly large camera trapping survey, only two individuals were captured by camera traps in an area covering only 22 km 2 .This indicates that the population may be both small and isolated.It

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In Oman, the Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica is known to be distributed in the Hajar mountains of the north, desert plains in central of Oman, and Jabal Samhan foothills & Nejd area in the south.
It has never been reported in the monsoon habitats on Jabal Al Qamar and Jabal Al Qara.Today, only a small population exists in the Nejd and the southern coastal plains between Mirbat and Sadah (Al Hikmani et al. 2015).A more recent joint survey was conducted by the Office for Conservation of the Environment and the Ministry of Environment in 2019 on the gazelle population in Dhofar in the area running from Thumrait to Demeet.The survey area was approximately 1,547 km 2 and consisted of flat rolling plains, and wadis.Distance sampling and analyses were used to collect and process line transect data.The population estimate for the area was calculated as 127 gazelles ().Ras As Shagar Nature Reserve and As Saleel Natural Park have the healthiest and largest wild populations of Arabian gazelle(Al Hikmani et al. 2015;Al Jahdhami et al. 2017;Ross et al. 2019).Threats such as habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, road kills and mainly poaching have caused population declines over the past few years.However, Oman remains the stronghold for Arabian Gazelle since the highest wild population resides in the country, due to conservation efforts(Mallon &  Kingswood 2001;Strauss et al. 2009;Al Hikmani et al. 2015;Al Jahdhami et al. 2017).

Image 1 .
The study area, Masirah Island, Oman, and the locations of the cameras that captured the Arabian Gazelle and location of the gazelle foot (right).Confirmed Arabian Gazelle distribution in Oman (left).

Image 2 .
Camera trap photographs of male Arabian Gazelle in Masirah Island, Oman: a-camera NM24 | b-camera NM25.Image 3. Photograph taken by the survey team on which appears to be an Arabian gazelle foot in the northeastern cliffs of Masirah Island.© H Al Rawahi Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org| 26 December 2023 | 15(12): 24443-24446 First confirmed record of Gazella arabica on Masirah Island Al Said et al.