Rare wild mammal spotted again in Dhofar mountains

Salalah: 'Crocidura Dhofarensis', a rare wild mammal, has been sighted for the first time outside the monsoon zone in Dhofar. Earlier it was seen only in areas under monsoon coverage.

This first-time sighting of the animal was documented recently at Jebel Samhan mountain in Dhofar Governorate.  

The prey animal’s registration was made by the Environment Conservation Office, Diwan of Royal Court.

This species of small mammals had been registered earlier only in four sites in Dhofar Governorate and strictly in areas affected by monsoon, Dr. Hadi Musallam Al Hakmani, a wild mammals’ specialist researcher and Director of Environmental Affairs at the Environment Conservation Office said.

“It is the first time that such registration takes place at Jebel Samhan outside the monsoon zone,” said Al Hakmani.

He added that this new registration of Crocidura Dhofarensis is considered a significant development due to the fact that this widely unknown Crocidura Dhofarensis is one of three rare species in Dhofar, but the news is that it has been spotted at Jebel Samhan outside the monsoon zone.

He pointed out that Crocidura Dhofarensis was first detected in Dhofar Governorate’s area of Khadhrafi, Wilayat of Dhalkout in 1977.  It was recently sighted in three sites near the Wilayat of Salalah and also in some sites in Haouf area in Yemen, he said.

Small mammals like hedgehogs and Crocidura are important for biodiversity, being animals of prey for a large number of predators, particularly Arabian leopard, a rare endangered species, and are thus worthy of study for scientific purposes.