Authorities seize dead Nubian ibexes in Karak Governorate

AMMAN — Authorities have arrested three hunters in Karak Governorate allegedly in possession of two killed Nubian ibexes, a globally endangered mammal that was brought to extinction in Jordan until recently, a conservationist said on Thursday.

Another three hunters, who allegedly fired live bullets at a joint patrol from the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) and the Public Security Department (PSD), escaped and remain at large, head of the RSCN’s Hunting and Regulation Department Abdul Razzaq Hmoud said.

Acting on reports that people were hunting Nubian ibex in Karak Governorate, 140 kilometres south of Amman, a joint team from the RSCN and the PSD started tracking down the hunters on Monday, and after 12 hours of surveillance, authorities arrested three people, while the other three fled the scene.

Authorities seized and confiscated the killed animals and the hunters’ gear, including automatic weapons, live bullets and hunting equipment.

Over-hunting of the ibex in the past led to its extinction in Jordan and other countries in the region, prompting the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to categorise the animal as globally endangered on its red list.

In 1989, the RSCN launched a project to reintroduce the Nubian ibex to Jordan within a 10sq.km. area in the Mujib Biosphere Reserve in Karak.

In 2006, Nubian ibex were released into the wild in Mujib, according to the RSCN, which said that the project was a success.

“The penalty for hunting a Nubian ibex is four months in jail and a fine of JD2,000 for every hunted animal, while the penalty for using automatic weapons to hunt is a fine between JD100 and JD300, in addition to the confiscation of all gear,” Hmoud told The Jordan Times.