Saving the gazelles

There was a time when large numbers of Arabian gazelles roamed the deserts of the UAE which was part of the Great Arabian Desert called Rub Al Khali, or the Empty Quarter.

But with the arrival of men with rifles in four wheel drive vehicles, these animals, along with the Arabian Oryx, began being hunted down.

Fortunately, good sense prevailed, and in the early 1970s the countries of the great desert began diverting their attention to saving them.

During the late 1990s I read newspaper reports about gazelle sightings around Jebel Ali.

Recently, I surveyed certain areas managed by the Dubai Municipality which provide drinking water, sheds and dry grass for the gazelles and other herbivores.

Thanks to this, the gazelle population in the deserts of Dubai has multiplied.