620 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



The following account is furnished by T. W. Russell (in litt., 

 October 27, 1935) : 



"I managed to get local Arretes passed by all Upper Egypt prov- 

 inces making it illegal to kill ibex and Barbary sheep in the Eastern 

 desert, i. e., between the Nile and the Red Sea. 



"Ibex are still numerous in all the mountainous parts of the 

 desert, i. e., parts where grazing and refuge are to be found 



"Bedouin hunting with dogs was taking its toll of the sheep and 

 snaring over the few water holes was killing large numbers of 

 ibex. . . . 



"I then got the Government to appoint a special Camel Corps 

 police patrol for that area, got out local game laws and put it across 

 the poaching Arabs. 



"Last winter . . . three big rains . . . brought to life all the 

 dormant plant seeds in the wadis. . . . 



"I sent a patrol up in August and the reports were most en- 

 couraging. . . . Large quantities of ibex ... in the smaller and 

 more inaccessible wadis where the grazing had not been good enough 

 for camels but amply good for game. . . . 



"The ibex don't seem to need such a refuge [as serves the Egyptian 

 Arui on the western face of the Wadi Qena] ; much smaller rough 

 country does for him ; he trusts to cunning whereas the sheep panics 

 at the slightest sign of man or camels." 



"A mountainous area of about 400 square miles in the Red Sea 

 province has been dedicated as a sanctuary for ibex" (Hobley, 

 1933, p. 45). 



"The Ibex in the Sudan is confined to the Red Sea Hills, where 

 it is comparatively common, especially in the Karora District, bor- 

 dering the frontier of Eritrea. . . . 



"Their chief enemies are Leopards, which abound in the Red Sea 

 Hills .... 



"Ibex have lately been introduced into the Shabluka Hills about 

 sixty miles north of Khartoum, . . . and, up to the time of writing, 

 they are doing very well." (Brocklehurst, 1931, pp. 81-82.) 



"The Red Sea tribes, who hunt on foot, drive herds of Ibex up a 

 narrow gully until the animals are forced to walk in single file. 



"Natives, previously concealed behind rocks, pelt them with 

 stones, and later kill the cripples with knives." (R. S. Audas, in 

 Brocklehurst, 1931, p. 161.) 



"In the Red Sea province several hills were declared as sanc- 

 tuaries for ibex, but it was found that the stock in these sanctuaries 

 decreased rather than increased. The reason for this was found to 

 be that the native took care to preserve the ibex in the neighbour- 

 hood of his village in order to encourage the visiting sportsmen, 

 from whom he derived considerable benefit. He considered the sane- 



