Gazella bilkis

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Kingdom Animalia

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Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Artiodactyla
Family Bovidae
Subfamily Antilopinae
Genus Gazella
Subgenus Gazella
Species Gazella (Gazella) bilkis
Authority Groves & Lay, 1985
 
English Name Queen of Sheba’s Gazelle, Yemen Gazelle  
Czech Name Gazela Jemenská
Dutch Name Bilkisgazelle
French Name Gazelle du Yémen, Gazelle de la Reine de Saba
German Name Jemen-Gazelle, Sheba-Gazelle, Bilkis-Gazelle
Spanish Name Gacela de Yemen, Gacela de la Reina de Saba
 
Synonyms Gazella arabica bilkis (Groves & Lay, 1985)
 
Taxonomy This species was described on the basis of the 1951 specimens by Groves and Lay (1985). The American Museum of Natural History's Committee on Recently Extinct Organisms (CREO) regards this as an unresolved extinction due to taxonomic disputes around this species. Current genetic research at King Khaled Wildlife Research Centre, Saudi Arabia raises some doubts about the validity of its specific status. Some authors have considered this species as a subspecies of the Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica (Participants at 4th International Conservation Workshop for the Threatened Fauna of Arabia 2003; Groves 1996; Grubb 2005), although there is also some doubt over the taxonomic status of the Arabian Gazelle. Regardless, there is no doubt that the population originally described as Gazella bilkis is certainly now extinct, regardless of whether it was a species or a subspecies (Participants at the 4th International Conservation Workshop for the Threatened Fauna of Arabia 2008). The Extinction Website, following the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008), keeps the specific status of the Queen of Sheba Gazelle, because there is no genetic basis for any subspecific status.
 
Range & Habitat The Queen of Sheba's or Yemen gazelle was only known to have occurred on the high altitude plains and hills around the city of Ta'izz in Yemen. It was seen in small groups of 1-3 on Euphorbia-covered hillsides at altitudes of 1,230 - 2,150 m. This animal has never been seen in cultivated areas or near roads (Sanborn and Hoogstraal 1953).  

Image: map showing the possible previous range of the Queen of Sheba's Gazelle (in red). Created by Peter Maas for The Extinction Website. This image has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Licence.

 
History & Population This gazelle was reported as very common in 1951. In the same year five specimens were collected, which are deposited in the collection of the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. There has been no further information obtained since 1951. A survey of the area in 1992 failed to find the animal and local reports suggest that the species has not been seen in the area for several decades. There have been no subsequent specimens, sightings or reports, and surveys in the area of former occurrence have failed to find any sign of its presence (Mallon and Al Safadi 2001). There are no specimens in captivity.

Harrison (1991) considered Gazella bilkis to be extinct and that view is still repeated by the IUCN Antelope Specialist Group in their recent (2001) Global Survey and Regional Action Plan for Antelopes, Part 4: North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The Queen of Sheba's gazelle was formally declared extinct in the 1999 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals.

Has the Queen of Sheba’s Gazelle been rediscovered?

Photo: pair of Queen of Sheba's gazelles in Al Wabra Wildlife Farm in Qatar. Photographed by Chris Furley, about 1985. Unknown copyright licence.

The right-hand photograph is possible showing a pair of Queen of Sheba's gazelles in Al Wabra Wildlife Farm in Qatar. The animals at this private collection in Qatar could be the real Gazella bilkis, but this still need to be checked by genetic study.

It remains to be seen if the Gazella bilkis from the original collection in Yemen, which are now in the Field Museum in Chicago (U.S.A.) is a different species or falls within one of the diverse subspecies of Gazella gazella. And it is still not clear if these gazelles are the same as in the private collection in Qatar. Current DNA research is on its way to differentiate all the Arabian gazelles but until further notice, we have to consider Gazella bilkis to be extinct.

 
Museum Specimens Specimens of the Queen of Sheba’s Gazelle can be found in the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.
 
Relatives The Queen of Sheba's Gazelle is a close relative of the Arabian Gazelle (Gazella arabica), an extinct gazelle from the nearby Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia. The closest living relatives are the Mountain Gazelle (Gazella gazella), Dorcas Gazelle (Gazella dorcas), Neumann's Gazelle (Gazella erlangeri), Speke's Gazelle (Gazella spekei), and the Indian Gazelle (Gazella bennettii). The Saudi Gazelle (Gazella saudiya) from the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Gazelle (Eudorcas rufina) from North Africa are other species of gazelle that became extinct recently.
 
Links

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - Gazella bilkis.

Research in Arabia, 1987 and 1992 (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates).

Arabian Wildlife - Arabia Felix by Chris and Tilde Stuart.  

The Extinction Website - Extinct Mammals - Yemen or Queen of Sheba's Gazelle (Gazella bilkis)

 
References Groves, C. P. 1997. The taxonomy of Arabian gazelles. National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, Riyadh. Publications, 29:24-51.

Groves, C.P. and Lay, D.M. 1985. A new species of the genus Gazella (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae) from the Arabian Peninsula. Mammalia 49: 27-36.

Greth, A., Williamson, D., Schwede, G., Vassart, M. 1993. Bilkis gazelle in Yemen - status and taxonomic relationships. Oryx, 27:239-244.

IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group 2008. Gazella arabica. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 December 2008.

Mallon, D.P. and Al-Safadi, M. 2001.Yemen. In: D.P. Mallon and S.C. Kingswood (compilers). 2001. Antelopes. Part 4: North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Global Survey and Regional Action Plans, pp. 63-68. IUCN, Gland.

Participants at 4th International Conservation Workshop for the Threatened Fauna of Arabia 2003. Gazella bilkis. In: IUCN 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 March 2006.

Participants at the 4th International Conservation Workshop for the Threatened Fauna of Arabia 2008. Gazella bilkis. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 December 2008.

Sanborn, C.C. and Hoogstraal, H. 1953. Some mammals of Yemen and their ectoparasites. Fieldiana: Zoology 34: 229-252.

Last updated: 25th December 2008.

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