Reintroduction of Arabian hares in Mahazat as- Sayd Protected Area, Central Saudi Arabia

Summary

Arabian hares once occurred throughout Mahazat as-Sayd, a fenced protected area in central Saudi Arabia, but were hunted to local extinction there in the early 1980s before the reserve was established in 1988. With almost no wild hares left nearby to serve as a source, the Prince Saud Al-Faisal Wildlife Research Center instead drew on two long-established private hare collections near Mahazat, receiving 25 hares from one in 2014 to 2015 and 13 more from the other in 2016. Eleven hares were released into a fenced enclosure in May 2015, fitted with radio collars, but poor vegetation conditions and collars that caught in the hares' mouths contributed to eight deaths within a month, leaving three surviving females. A second release of 16 hares in March 2016, at a site with better vegetation, redesigned collars and earlier spring timing, lost three individuals to predation, and heavy rains then breached the release enclosure's fencing, letting most hares disperse into the wider reserve alongside some predators. The first confirmed wild breeding was recorded in September 2017, and by the report's writing an estimated 6 to 13 hares survived across two wadis despite ongoing drought, with a further release of 40 hares planned. The project rates itself a failure so far, citing low release numbers and poor timing, though it credits strong local community support for supplying founder animals as a genuine achievement.