Morocco Travel Guide

Once    found   across  the Atlas   and Rif

Mountains,  the Barbary lion    was larger

than    the savannah    lion,   with    a   thick

black   mane    and solitary    habits. The

last    wild    Barbary lion    was killed  in

1921,   but the Parc    Zoo-logique

National    in  Rabat   has made    progress

with    a   small   captive-breeding

program,    with    cubs    that    are 80%

Barbary lion.

For more    information on  birdwatching

in  Morocco,    Click   here.

DUST-UP IN THE DESERT

To  see the desert  the way nature  intended,   take    a   dromedary   instead of  an  all-terrain vehicle.    The 4WDs    break   up  the surface

of  the desert, which   is  then    scattered   into    the air by  strong  winds.  By  one estimate,   the annual  generation  of  dust    has

increased   by  1000%   in  North   Africa  in  the last    50  years   –   a   major   contributor to  drought,    as  dust    clouds  shield  the earth’s

surface from    sunlight    and hinder  cloud   formation.  What    happens in  the desert  has far-reaching    consequences:   dust    from    the

Sahara  has reached as  far away    as  Greenland.  If  you travel  by  dromedary   instead,    desert  wildlife    won’t   be  scared  off by  the

vibrations, and you’re  much    more    likely  to  spot    small,  sensitive   and rather  adorably    big-eared   desert  creatures   like    the fennec

fox,    jerboa  and desert  hedgehog.

Mountain Wildlife

Forested mountain slopes are Morocco’s richest wildlife
habitats, where it’s easy to spot sociable Barbary macaques
(also known as Barbary apes) in the Rif and Middle Atlas,
especially around Azrou. Less easy to track are mountain
gazelles, lynx and the endangered mouflon , or Barbary sheep.
The mouflon are now protected in a High Atlas preserve near
the Tizi n’Test, where its only predator is the critically
endangered Barbary leopard – the last population of leopards
in North Africa.
Golden eagles soar in Atlas mountain updrafts, and High
Atlas hikes might introduce you to red crossbills, horned larks, acrobatic booted eagles,
Egyptian vultures, and both black and red kites. In springtime, butterflies abound in the
mountains, including the scarlet cardinal and bright-yellow Cleopatra.

NATIONAL PARKS

With cities encroaching on natural habitats, the Moroccan
government is setting aside protected areas to prevent the
further disappearance of rare plant and animal species.
Toubkal National Park in the High Atlas Mountains was the first national park to be created in

1942. After the vast Souss-Massa National Park was founded in 1991 outside Agadir, Morocco
      created four new national parks in 2004: Talassemtane (589 sq km) in the Rif; Al-Hoceima (485
      sq km) in the Mediterranean, with outstanding coastal and marine habitats along the
      Mediterranean that include one of the last outposts of osprey; Ifrane National Park (518 sq km)
      in the Middle Atlas, with dense cedar forests and Barbary macaques; and the Eastern High
      Atlas National Park (553 sq km).

NOTABLE NATIONAL PARKS

NATIONAL    PARK LOCATION FEATURES ACTIVITIES

BEST

TIME    TO

VISIT

Toubkal National

Park    (Click  here )

near

Marrakesh

highest peak    in  North   Africa hiking,  climbing May-Jun