Animal Life From North Africa
North Africa forms part of the Palaearctic zoogeographic region. Its fauna is similar to that of the Middle East, though its birdlife is more like that of the southern Mediterranean. Species are far less numerous and diverse than in the Ethiopian and Madagascan zoogeographic regions that lie in sub-Saharan Africa. Rupestrian art (i.e., inscribed on rock) bears witness to greater diversity during past pluvial climatic phases, but climate alone is not to blame for the region’s faunal degradation; many wild animals have disappeared or become extremely rare through widespread killing by humans over the centuries, some quite recently: elephants, bears, lions, leopards, hyenas, ostriches, and cheetahs to name but a few.
The wild boar, Barbary red deer, jackal, lynx, and Barbary sheep, or aoudad, are still found in forested mountain areas, however, and gazelles and oryx still inhabit the desert. Reptiles and insects are also fewer than in other parts of Africa, though locust swarms occasionally do tremendous damage to vegetation. In recent years greater efforts have been made to control and conserve the region’s wildlife.
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