Mahmoud Nima, Khattak Romaan Hayat, Nawaz Muhammad Ali
Environmental Science Program, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Doha 2713, Qatar.
Salam Veterinary Group, Buraydah 51911, Saudi Arabia.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Mar 9;15(6):778. doi: 10.3390/ani15060778.
The Arabian sand gazelle () is a native and highly adaptable species of the Arabian Peninsula. Due to drastic population declines, the species is listed as globally vulnerable. Very little is known about the behavioral ecology of this species in captivity; therefore, this study was designed to investigate the seasonal variations in the activity patterns of Arabian sand gazelles at Al Reem Biosphere Reserve, Qatar. Data were collected in two phases, i.e., summer (September-October 2021) and winter (December 2021-January 2022), for a total of 16 days. Results revealed that feeding and walking ( = 0.001) were the dominant activities in both seasons, yet these were higher in summer compared to winter. Likewise, standing, lying down and other activities (social interactions, defecating, maintenance, sexual behaviors) were also higher in summer compared to winter. All these findings suggest that Arabian sand gazelles are adaptable to harsh environments. However, we strongly recommend a year-round investigation on the impacts of humans, feed types and Arabian Oryx on the behavioral activities of Arabian sand gazelles. In addition, we suggest studying the behavior ecology of the wild scattered populations of Arabian sand gazelles for better management of captive breeding stocks.
阿拉伯沙瞪羚（）是阿拉伯半岛的本土物种，适应性很强。由于种群数量急剧下降，该物种被列为全球易危物种。对于圈养状态下该物种的行为生态学，人们了解甚少；因此，本研究旨在调查卡塔尔阿尔里姆生物圈保护区内阿拉伯沙瞪羚活动模式的季节性变化。数据分两个阶段收集，即夏季（2021年9月至10月）和冬季（2021年12月至2022年1月），共16天。结果显示，进食和行走（=0.001）在两个季节都是主要活动，但夏季的这些活动比冬季更为频繁。同样，站立、躺下和其他活动（社交互动、排便、维护、性行为）在夏季也比冬季更为频繁。所有这些发现表明，阿拉伯沙瞪羚能够适应恶劣环境。然而，我们强烈建议对人类、饲料类型和阿拉伯大羚羊对阿拉伯沙瞪羚行为活动的影响进行全年调查。此外，我们建议研究野生散居阿拉伯沙瞪羚的行为生态学，以便更好地管理圈养繁殖种群。
