One less-than-charming fact about
snake charming: to prevent them from
biting handlers, snakes’ mouths are
sometimes stitched closed. This often
causes fatal mouth infections and
leaves snakes unable to feed. To
discourage this practice, don’t pose
with or tip snake charmers handling
snakes whose mouths are stitched
shut.The endangered Houbara bustard is
poised for a comeback with the
release of 5000 captive-bred birds into
a 40,000-sq-km protected zone in
Morocco’s eastern desert – among the
largest reintroductions of any
endangered species in the world.
Bustards are notoriously difficult to
breed in captivity, due to their intricate
mating behaviour and nervous
disposition.
Marrakesh ( Click here ).WILDLIFE
Even after millennia of being inhabited, farmed and grazed,
Morocco still teems with wildlife – a testament to sustainable
traditional practices and careful resource management handed
down through generations. Today Morocco’s 40 different
ecosystems provide a habitat for many endemic species,
including flora and fauna that are rare elsewhere.
Industrialisation has put considerable pressure on Morocco’s
delicately balanced natural environments, and while steps are
being taken to create wildlife reserves for Morocco’s
endangered species, visitors can do their part to preserve
natural habitats by staying on marked pistes and taking out waste.
Coastal Species
Away from the urban sprawl of port cities and resort
complexes are long stretches of rugged Moroccan coastline,
where people are far outnumbered by abundant bird
populations and marine mammals such as dolphins and
porpoises. Along beaches, you’ll spot white-eyed gulls,
Moroccan cormorants and sandwich terns. Seabirds and
freshwater birds thrive in preserves such as Souss-Massa
National Park, where you might spy endangered bald ibis along
with the ducks and waders who migrate here from Europe for
the winter. On Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, you might spot
one of the world’s most endangered animals: the Mediterranean monk seal. Only 450 to 600
remain, and a few have been sighted taking refuge in sheltered Moroccan coves.
Desert Habitats
The Sahara may seem like a harsh place, but it’s home to numerous creatures, including
several furry, cuddly ones: several varieties of fluffy gerbils; long-eared, spindly-legged,
cartoonish jerboas; and the world’s tiniest hedgehog, the desert hedgehog, tipping the scales at
300g to 500g. The delightful fennec fox has fur-soled feet and huge batlike ears to dissipate
Sahara heat; pups look like Chihuahuas, only fuzzier. This desert fox is stealthy and nocturnal,
but if you’re travelling by dromedary and staying overnight in the desert, you might catch a brief
glimpse.
While desert heat makes most humans sluggish, many desert creatures are elegant and
swift. Dorcas gazelles are common, and you might also catch a glimpse of a rare, reddish
Cuvier’s gazelle. Lizards you might see darting through the desert include skinks and spiny-
tailed lizards, and you might catch sight of the devilish-looking (though not especially poisonous)
horned viper. Golden jackals are the most common predator in the Sahara, though in the more
remote parts of the Western Sahara a few desert-adapted cheetahs may yet survive.