Diversity and Conservation of Carnivores in Saudi Arabia

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

The reviewed article is devoted to a very important problem: a contemporal state of the Carnivora species in Saudi Arabia and their survival in the wild nature. The article is very clear and informative, accumulating and generalizing the data of the species records throughout the whole territory of the kingdom and using the records from camera traps. Each species is provided with the newest data on its distribution and with a brief, but thorough, ecological characteristics. The authors raised complex issues of protecting large carnivores. The impressive photos illustrate the article. There is no doubt about the need of its publication. I have no serious remarks, proposing, however, to add something to the article.

In the list of species, in some cases it is noted which species are found in Saudi Arabia, in other cases it is not noted. It is desirable these data to be given for all species.

For example, the sand cat is represented by the endemic for the Arabian Peninsula subspecies Felis margarita harrisoni (Kitchener et al. 2024).

In some places in the text, the number of rare carnivores is noted. It is desirable such information, if it is available, will be included into all species essays.

The authors give zoogeographical division of species. However, this analysis could be adjusted. For example, Mellivora capensis, by its morphological characters, forms two groups of subspecies: African and Asiatic.  The populations from the Arabian Peninsula belong to the African group.

It is very important that the authors provided interesting data on Acinonyx jubatus, which became extinct in Saudi Arabia in historical times. It would be of use to supplement them by the data on last encounters of Panthera leo in the Arabian Peninsula, which has long survived in Iran.

 Finally, is it possible to add to the species list the African species, such as Canis lupaster and Vulpes zerda, which may penetrate to Saudi Arabia from the Sinai Peninsula?

In spite of the article does not considers the problem of gone wild dogs and cats (Canis familiaris and Felis catus), it would be useful to give some information on their interactions with other carnivores in the wild nature.

Remarkably, the article is written good and easy to read. I have only several small editorial remarks.

p. 12 Herpestes…. Figure 6E

p. 18 “programs for the Carakal and other canids”, but Carakal no canids, this is felid.

 

The article may be recommended for publication in “Diversity” with a minor revision.

Author Response

All comments were incorporated

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

Comments to the Author

This study provide new data on carnivores ranges in KSA and discuss their conservation status and threats. I think this paper will be a good fit in the journal. However, I have some concerns mainly about the way that Abstract articulated. I provide herein some general comments following by some minor comments that should make them easy to systematically address.

 

Abstract: This section needs to be rewritten!

The zoogeographical affinities included here is only a repetition of what presented previously in the named literature, and cannot be called “Analysis”. I suggest to remove this section from the abstract and focus on camera trapping and conservation/threats section.

 

By the way: L16-18:

It has been stated that “Analysis of the carnivores fauna of Saudi Arabia revealed that they have five major zoogeographical affinities; Oriental (one species), Afrotropical (one species), Afrotropical- Palaearctic (one species), Palaearctic-Oriental (three species), Afrotropical-Palaearctic-Oriental (eight species).”

Which species is Oriental solely? I wasn’t able to find it in the table 3.

 

I suggest rewriting the abstract starting with:

 

In the present study, we updated the taxonomy and distributional data for 14 carnivore species based on previous records and the recent results of camera trapping (4787 camera-nights from 58 locations), and depicted species richness. We then identified threats as well as the conservation measures that are practiced to ensure the protection of the carnivores of Saudi Arabia.

 

Then provide results:

 

A total of 10 species of carnivores were recorded based on camera trapping efforts. The Striped Hyaena was the most recorded species in 13 locations, whereas the highest number of observations were made at Raydah Protected Area, followed by the Red Fox and the Arabian Wolf. Both Genetta genetta and Mellivora capensis were the least recorded species. Vulpes vulpes was the most distributed species where it was recorded from 15 sites.

Here also add, which species has been caught by camera traps in this study and which ones are not!

 

Authors also can add something like sentence in below in this part.

 

Camera traps placed in this study and previous studies (13 sites from its historical range and scat DNA analysis) failed to document the presence of the leopard.

 

Then provide species richness results:

The south- western corner of Saudi Arabia covering Asir, Jazan, and Najran plateaus extending further into Al Sarawat mountains hosts the highest number of carnivores species.

 

Finally: provide a brief information from the Threat section in here --in the last part of the Abstract, one or two sentence would be enough.

 

 

Minor comments: 

 

L27: I think “since then” should read “in this period”.

L28: Please remove “additional records”

L 29-33: Please provide Species names authorship.

L42: Please provide reference for “Recently, we evaluated the conservation status of the carnivores on the kingdom”

L43-44: “whereas conservation measures should be employed due to the deterioration of the well-being of some species [3,24]”. What does this mean?

L68: Provide citation for the IUCN.

L76-80 “Striped Hyaena was the most recorded species in 13 locations, ..”

“Vulpes vulpes was the most distributed species where it was recorded from 15 sites.”

What’s the difference between the most recorded and the most distributed species? It would be informative if authors add a brief description.

 

L90-91: “The carnivores of Saudi Arabia consist of 14 species in 6 families (Canidae, Felidae, Herpestidae, Hyaenidae, Mustelidae, and Viverridae) and 10 genera.” This a Repetition!

L170-171:

Rüppell's Sand Fox: Rüppell's or Sand Fox

 

Also, L95 and L292:

African Wildcat: African/Asian wildcat. Please check recent references.

 

L97-898 Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 Figures 3A and 4A

Common name: Arabian Wolf.

Arabian Wolf is Canis lupus arabs and not Canis lupus (which is scientific name for the grey wolf).

L116: Recent records: Is it from camera trapping only? If yes, please specify.

L119-120: “The Arabian Wolf occurs in the mountainous areas of the southwest and the rocky landscape of northern Saudi Arabia.” Is this the range depicted from the current study or it include the species range in KSA in total?

L124-125: “Wolves feed on a variety of food items, including small mammals, wild ungulates, large lizards as well as sheep and domestic animals.”

Please provide reference.

 

 

“At Al Namas, it was found to predate on a calf. Camera trapping revealed two individuals together. Pups are usually born in the spring months or early summer in very cold places such as on the tundra. Females give birth to six to eight puppies, with a gestation period of 2-2.5 months.”

The same for the sentences in above, require reference.

L125: remove “sheep and” from the sentence. Sheep is also a livestock!

L130: replace “gave” with “provided”.

L139-141: There was no recent record of the species!! Any explanation?

L142-145: “The Golden Jackal is a nocturnal species and often feeds on carrions and food wastes. It prefers areas with open waterbodies, surrounded by reeds and other aquatic vegetation such as Phragmites australis. Its distribution in Saudi Arabia is confined to areas with open pools such as Al Asfar Lake and Domat Al Jandal.”

Please provide reference.

L165-166: The home range was estimated between 0.5-2.0 km2 [47]

The size looks to small! It might be true for a specific area but not for entire species range!. Please double check the reference.

L178: “whereas” should read “where”

L202: “The Red Fox has a wide range of habitats including extreme deserts, ..” Is it co-habitat with sand fox? Because previously stated “The Rüppell’s Sand Fox inhabits in extreme desertic conditions with soft sand ..”.

L226-231: please provide reference!

L234: Figure 4. NCW archives or NCW?

L237-239: please provide reference!

L241: tens of thousands of dried old bones!! Is this number is real?

L244: “The Striped Hyaena is widely distributed in the Middle East, where two subspecies occur; Hyaena hyaena syriaca Matschie, 1900, known from Jordan, Palestine and Syria, and Hyaena hyaena sultana Pocock, 1934 in the Arabian Peninsula [36].”

What about the nominotypical subspecies H. h. hyaena? Unless authors believe that Iran is not part of the Middle East!!

L259: “The Caracal inhabits a variety of habitats ranging from extreme deserts to mountain ranges as well as forested areas.”

Please be constant for the information provided for different species. Above sentence looks to be for species in its entire range! If so, authors should provide the same data for all the other species covered in this study. I suggest to remove it and only focus on species habitat in the KSA.

L271: “and on the Steppe Eagle, Aquila niplaensis.” This is incorrect! In the paper its stated “and killed and ate a steppe eagle Aquila nipalensis”.

L289: “Fagbo et al. [57] found that a Sand Cat collected from Sharri village near Qaseem was affected by rabies.”

Does this means that disease is also a recognized threat for mammals in KSA!

L314-315: Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) Figures 6A 314
Common name: Arabian Leopard.

Arabian Leopard is Panthera pardus nimr and not Panthera pardus (which is scientific name for the leopard at species level).

L318: There was no recent record of the species!! Any explanation?

L335: “intensive surveys of 13 sites” please provide more details! How many trap nights etc.

L364-366: Reference?

L380: “The biology of this species is summarized from the species account given by …”. In this case authors should specify for each species which data has been gathered from species in KSA or Arabian peninsula and which from the species account.

L397: replace “whereas” with “where”.

L478: “Recently, we assessed the conservation status of the mammals of Saudi Arabia at the local scales according to the IUCN criteria.” Please provide reference!

L489: Asiatic or golden?

L513: “Habitat loss and degradation”. In which areas such threats occur?

L502-547: Please provide a brief information from this section in the Abstract, one sentence would be enough.

L531: “The Caracal is presumed to have a wide distribution range in Saudi Arabia. How-ever, its population size is not known without estimates and may be declining, with various forms of threats emerging. This carnivore is trapped and illegally kept on private farms or collections. Fourteen animals have been confiscated in the last two years.”

Please provide reference.

And here the same: “Hunting and persecution of wild carnivores was the main reason for the extinction of the Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, from Saudi Arabia.”

 

Lastly:

·       Please provide species range maps for all the species, separating previous and recent (the current study) records. These maps can be deposited as Supplementary files.

·       Please add the location and names of 3 protected areas (Ibex Reserve, Raydah Protected Area and Farasan), and the southwestern mountains of the Red Sea in Figure 1 map.

 

 

Finally, I would like to congratulate the authors for the great work done.
Kind regards,

Author Response

All comments were incorporated

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

General comments:

In this study, the authors conducted a survey of the distribution of carnivores in Saudi Arabia using camera traps at 58 locations for 4,787 camera trap nights randomly. Updated the taxonomy and distributional data of 14 carnivore species based on previous records and recent results of field-work , and analyzed the threatened and conservation status of carnivores in Saudi Arabia. However, I have some concerns regarding the data analysis and the clarity of the manuscript. The authors need to make some improvements to both the analysis and the writing of the manuscript.

The section of Materials and Methods is brief. It is suggested that more detailed methods be listed that correspond to the content of the results section. For example, how to analyze zoogeographic relationships and species richness of carnivores in Saudi Arabia.

In the results section, there are two Figures (Figure 3G and Figure 3J) listed but not mentioned in the text, and there are some cases that the statements in the text do not match the information in the table that need to be further checked or explained. Furthermore, there are a number of problems with the format of the article. The above general error has been clearly pointed out below. 

I have observed several issues with the English language throughout your manuscript. These issues will impact the clarity and readability of your paper. I recommend continuing to check and revise the sentence grammar to help improve the language quality and overall readability of your work.

 

Specific comments:

Abstract:

Authors should add a short description of certain research methods (one sentence maybe) appropriately in the abstract.

Introduction:

Line 26: Remove a space in front of “Over the past four decades, ……” .

Line 26: have addressed

Line 28: have focused on

Line 33: An update on the distribution of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) was investigated.

Line 35: a major revision

Line 40: The carnivores

Line 42: The word "dubious" in this context might be better replaced with "uncertain" or "ambiguous" to convey the idea that the current status of the Arabian leopard is not clearly known or defined. Such as:"The current status of the Arabian leopard remains uncertain."

Line 47-50: In the present study, we updated the taxonomy and distributional data for 14 carnivore species based on previous records and recent fieldwork results. We also identified threats and the conservation measures that are currently practiced to ensure the protection of the carnivores in Saudi Arabia.

Materials and methods:

Line 59-65: The define of acronym NCW should be placed where it first appears so that it is easy for the reader to understand

Results:

Line 77-80: It is suggested that the species names in the text correspond to the species name expressions shown in the table.

Line 98: Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758. Figures 3A and 4A

Line 125: Remove a space in front of “At Al Namas, ……” .

Line 141-142: Is there no recent record of Canis aureus? If not, suggest a list: "Recent records: No found. " or "No recent records. "

Line 152: Common name: Blandford’s Fox.

Line 171: Common name: Rüppell’s Sand Fox.  

Line 215: Common name: Striped Hyaena.

Line 314: Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758). Figures 6A

Line 351: Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776). Figure 6B

        Furthermore, should Figure 3J also be mentioned here?

Line 352: Common name: Honey Badger.

Line 388: Ichneumia albicauda (G. Cuvier, 1829). Figure 6D

        Furthermore, should Figure 3G also be mentioned here?

Line 404: Herpestes edwardsii (E. Geoffroy, 1818). Figure 6E    

        Furthermore, the paragraph indentation for this line is incorrectly formatted.

Line 406-407: Is there no recent record of Herpestes edwardsii? If not, suggest a list: "Recent records: No found. " or "No recent records. "

Line 446: ……. This area represents the

Line 451: Remove a space in front of “The Blandford’s Fox……” .

Line 471-472: Further confirmation is needed here, as the Arabian wolf is mentioned as the most confiscated animal, but Table 4 shows that the Striped Hyaena was the most confiscated animal in five sheltering facilities.  

Line 463-493: Remove blank lines between adjacent paragraphs.

Line 503-523: Remove blank lines between adjacent paragraphs.

Line 504: Remove a space in front of “They are shot when……” .

Line 505: What is road sings? Do you want to write “road signs” ?

Line 542: There is no full stop at the end.

Line 543: It is recommended to unify the expression of quantity, such as: “59 wolves and 35 hyaenas” .

If there are no special considerations, it is recommended that the species records and descriptions listed in the main text correspond accurately to the order listed in Table 2, which is more conducive to the reader's reading.

Line 98, 152, 171, 215, 314, 351, 352, 388, and 404 all have punctuation errors.

Figure 3G and Figure 3J are not mentioned, and it is recommended to add them at the location of the corresponding species (Line 351 and Line 352) .

Line 424, 440, 462, and 502 have the wrong serial numbers, and should be 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7.

Discussion:

Line 558: 12 from the United Arab Emirates

Line 563: desert and mountain habitats

Line 569: were the main reasons for

Line 588-590: This last approach is fundamental for better defining the phylogenetic and taxonomic status of some Saudi taxa.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

I have observed several issues with the English language throughout your manuscript. These issues will impact the clarity and readability of your paper. I recommend continuing to check and revise the sentence grammar to help improve the language quality and overall readability of your work.

Author Response

All comments were incorporated