Two reserves to protect endangered gazelles and moufflons

Two permanent reserves were created in the province of Boulemane (region of Fez) to accommodate endangered species, particularly gazelles and moufflons.

Only two gazelle species still live in the region. 30 years ago, herds of gazelles lived in the area. After 1976, apparently, due to a particularly harsh winter that year, the gazelles population started to shrink.

Moufflon, bigger and more robust, is a fearful animal with strong horns and acute hearing. Groups of moufflons, already very small, continued to shrink, mainly in the middle Atlas. Since 1988, 12 to 15 individuals were seen during spring and local inhabitants say their number was almost double before 1976.