Feral Donkey Distribution and Ecological Impacts in a Hyper-Arid Region

The feral donkey (Equus asinus L.) is an invasive species in Saudi Arabia and can cause severe damage to natural and cultural heritage. Over the last 30 years, feral donkeys have become a serious problem, as their abundance and geographic distribution has increased drastically. The impacts of feral...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 18; p. 2885
Main Authors: Soultan, Alaaeldin, Darwish, Mohammed, Al-Johani, Nawaf, Abdulkareem, Ayman, Alfaifi, Yousef, Assaeed, Abdulaziz M., El-Bana, Magdy, Browne, Stephen
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 11.09.2023
MDPI
Subjects:
AlUla
Animals
Arabian Desert
asses
Communication
cultural heritage
density
environmental impact
Equus asinus
feral donkey
geographical distribution
habitat fragmentation
Habitats
indigenous species
invasive species
Nonnative species
overgrazing
Packaging
population density
Saudi Arabia
Topography
Vegetation
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
ISSN:2076-2615, 2076-2615
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The feral donkey (Equus asinus L.) is an invasive species in Saudi Arabia and can cause severe damage to natural and cultural heritage. Over the last 30 years, feral donkeys have become a serious problem, as their abundance and geographic distribution has increased drastically. The impacts of feral donkeys are not well documented, and information about their abundance and distribution is lacking, certainly in Saudi Arabia, which hampers the implementation of effective management plans. Accordingly, we used the minimum population number approach (MPN) to determine the number of feral donkeys in this part of northwest Saudi Arabia. A total of 1135 feral donkeys were encountered in the region. The area around Khaybar harbors ~25% (n = 338) of the feral donkey population, whereas Tayma and AlGhrameel nature reserves were the least-inhabited sites (almost absent). The average population density of feral donkeys was estimated as 1.03 (0.19 SE) donkey/km2. We documented the negative ecological impact of feral donkeys on natural resources, which constituted overgrazing that resulted in habitat fragmentation and competition for resources with native species. We propose urgent actions to control the presence of feral donkeys in the region and suggest humane eradication as the most efficient and applicable to significantly reduce the negative impacts of feral donkeys.
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ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani13182885