ENHG Lecture March 19th: The Status & Conservation Of Terrestrial Herpetofauna in the UAE by Johannes Els

ENHG Lecture Tuesday March 19th - Status and Conservation of Terrestrial Herpetofauna of the UAE by Johannes Els

Date: Tuesday March 19th, 7:00pm to 9:00pm- Lecture begins at 7:30pm

Location: Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas, Uutdoor lawn (Near Pool area)

About the talk:

The United Arab Emirates contains a diversity of desert habitats with 62 species of terrestrial herpetofauna currently recorded, with three of these  considered to be present in the UAE as a result of introduction. Among the 62 confirmed species and subspecies present within the UAE, one terrestrial species is now considered to be endemic to the UAE (Asaccus caudivolvulus), 13 species are endemic to the Hajar Mountain range (shared with Oman) and there are 20 species that are endemic to the Arabian Peninsula. Of the 59 species of terrestrial herpetofauna considered native to the UAE, three species are Critically Endangered, six species Vulnerable, one species Near Threatened, 45 species Least Concern, and four species Data Deficient. Habitat loss remains the overriding threat to terrestrial herpetofauna, particularly the conversion of land to urban areas.

About the Speaker:

Johannes Els is the Head of the Herpetology and Freshwater Fish department at the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife/ Environment and Protected Area’s Authority of Sharjah over the last 10 years where he is involved in various conservation projects both in situ and ex situ throughout the Arabian Peninsula. He authored and co-authored several peer reviewed scientific papers including the IUCN Red List on the conservation status and distribution of reptiles of the Arabian Peninsula.

Johannes is a member of the Middle East and North African IUCN/SSC viper specialist group, IUCN West Asia amphibian specialist group and the IUCN SSC/WI freshwater fish specialist group. He assisted with various nature documentaries such as Wild Arabia (BBC 2013), Arabian Inferno (Blink Films 2017), Wild Dubai (Plimsoll Productions 2018) and Dead by Dawn (National Geographic 2019).

All ENHG talks are free and open to the public, please do register in order to book your spot.

This talk is generously hosted by ENHG Corporate Sponsor Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas