Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species is considered to be confined mainly to the remoter desert regions of Abu Dhabi Emirate and its range is believed to have contracted as roads and development extend further into the desert, facilitating colonisation by, and competition with, Vulpes vulpes (Jongbloed et al. 2001, Aspinall et al. 2005). There are only 52 records since 1992 on the EAD database. The only confirmed recent site in Abu Dhabi is Al Dhafra (Murdoch et al. 2007). It has not been recorded at Umm Al Zumoul or Liwa. In Dubai, it has not been recorded at Al Marmoom. There were no records from Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve until a pair was released; recent camera trap photos may relate to descendants of these animals or to a colonising animal. There are no records from the desert of Sharjah Emirate. Globally this species is widespread in desert and semi-desert regions of North Africa (north of 17'°N) from Morocco and Mauritania to Egypt, extending south to Somalia and through the Middle East to Pakistan (Mallon et al. 2015). It is thinly distributed across the Arabian Peninsula and has also been recorded from Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen (Harrison and Bates 1991, Mallon and Budd 2011).
History
There are no recent records from the deserts of the northern Emirates. Records from Abu Dhabi are very scarce, even within protected areas, and there is only one record since 2007. Desert habitats have been degraded, destroyed and fragmented by overgrazing, development and road-building which has facilitated the expansion of Red Foxes, which outcompete this species, into desert environments. The population is suspected to have now declined to below 250 mature individuals. The backcasted 1996 assessment for this species is Vulnerable under criterion D1 which matches the listing given by Hornby (1996).
