Big game hunters in big trouble
Illegal hunters shot the gazelle, slit its throat
ABU DHABI: Two men have been arrested on suspicion of killing an endangered Arabian gazelle in a nature reserve in Abu Dhabi’s Al Gharbia area.
The two – a GCC national and an Asian – were stopped when they approached Al Ghithani industrial area in a pick-up truck without a registration plate.
A search of the vehicle revealed a dead gazelle in the trunk, a rifle and some ammunition.
Col Ajeel Al Jenebi, Director of the Police Directorate in Al Gharbia, said: “The GCC national was accompanied by his seven-year-old son. He has been handed over to his family.”
It is believed that the two suspects walked along a natural reservation fence and created a gap big enough for them to enter the area. “They shot the gazelle and then slit its throat,” said the official.
The Arabian gazelle (known as “dhabi” in Arabic) is a critically endangered subspecies of antelopes native to the Arabian peninsula.
