772 Y. Yom‐Tov et al.


FIG. 1 Mountain gazelle Gazella gazella population dynamics since 1920, highlighting the main drivers of population change.


is the highest among OECD countries (Bar, 2017). It has been estimated that by 2040 Israel’s population will have increased to c. 13 million people (Raz-Dror & Cost, 2017). Consequently, the area urbanized is likely to increase from 10.7 to 15.3%at the expense of agricultural and natural areas. This increase will mostly occur in the Mediterranean part of the country where mountain gazelles live and where urba- nized areas are projected to encompass 25%of the total area.


Historical overview


The mountain gazelle is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2017). It was once widespread throughout the Levant, in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and possibly in Sinai, Egypt, but its main population now occurs in Israel (IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2017).Asmall popu- lation of c. 200 individuals may exist in Hatay province in Turkey (Kankiliç et al., 2012), and a few individuals are occasionally observed in other areas of its former range (Mallon & Kingswood, 2001). Traditional hunting of gazelles persisted to varying de-


grees up to the beginning of the 20th century (Bar-Oz et al., 2013). Until the demise of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, hunting was unregulated and wide- spread (Talbot, 1960). This led to local extinctions or serious declines of several vertebrate species, including a massive decline in the gazelle population (Talbot, 1960; Dolev & Perevolotsky, 2002). After World War I, during the British mandate of Palestine, a Conservation of Game Animals law


for the regulation of hunting was enacted but rarely en- forced (Mendelssohn, 1974). Gazelle hunting and poaching therefore persisted, resulting in a continued decline to c. 500 individuals by 1948 (Mendelssohn, 1974). The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 had sub-


stantial effects on wildlife following major political changes. Firstly, the Protection of Wild Animals law, enacted in 1955, stipulated that all wild, terrestrial, and volant vertebrates in Israel are protected, excluding a few species considered pests and some categorized as game (Mendelssohn & Yom-Tov, 1999). Secondly, following the 1948–1949 war, the human composition of the State of Israel changed considerably, and many communities with traditional hunting cultures were displaced (Abu-Saad, 2008). Thirdly, hunting and poi- soning of predators of gazelles (golden jackal Canis aureus, wolf Canis lupus) during the British Mandate greatly re- duced their numbers. Fourthly, within a few years c. 50% of agricultural areas became irrigated, providing gazelles with nutritious vegetation and drinking water year-round (Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2017). This latter change al- lowed gazelles to breed throughout the year, and females to give birth twice per year and to reach reproductive maturity within the first year of life (Mendelssohn, 1974; Mendelssohn et al., 1995). Consequently, between 1948 and the 1960s the gazelle population increased at an aver- age annual rate of 8% (Yom-Tov, 2016). More substantial changes to gazelle populations occurred in the Golan Heights after this region was occupied by the State of Israel in 1967 (it was nearly devoid of gazelles and their pre- dators prior to its occupation). During 1970–1971 c. 400 ga- zelles were translocated to the Golan Heights from Ramot


Oryx, 2021, 55(5), 771–778 © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S003060531900108X


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