Around 50 participants, belonging to management organizations of protected areas and reserves of three countries of North Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), met at the Tlemcen National Park in Algeria from 9 to 11 October 2017 to attend a training workshop on the captive management of threatened North African gazelles. This was the first meeting of its kind in Algeria.

This workshop was jointly organized by IUCN-Med and the Direction Générale des Forêts Algérie (DGF), with the collaboration of the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (EEZA-CSIC), the Zoo of Barcelona and Marwell Wildlife. Likewise, it got support from the Antilope Species Specialist Group (ASG) of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the MAVA Foundation.

The main objective of this training was to approach, in a practical way, the topics of captive breeding, diet, health monitoring, capture techniques, release and post-release monitoring of threatened North African gazelles. The content of the training also included adaptation to life in captivity, management of captive gazelles, reserves and protected areas, and research as a conservation tool.

This workshop aimed to capitalize the preliminary results developed by the beneficiary associations of the programme "Development and Implementation of Species Action Plans in Mediterranean Countries: Improving Management Capacity for the Conservation of Threatened Species in the Maghreb" put in motion by IUCN in recent years, and to share their experiences, lessons learned and success stories. The meeting also discussed the alternatives to ensure the sustainability of project achievements, the creation of alliances, as well as the continuity of this Programme.

A key result of this programme was the 2017-2020 Regional Strategy for Cuvier's Gazelle in North Africa, approved in 2017, where the sharing of experiences and knowledge in different aspects related to conservation and management in situ and ex situ of the Cuvier's gazelle.

For more information: Violeta Barrios

Photo: Gazella cuvieri © Tim Wacher/ZSL.