In a country already devoted by years of war, the elegant Rhim gazelles in the Sawa Reserve are dropping dead from hunger. Climate change has intensified drought to the point that nothing grows. In a little over month the population of gazelles had plunged from 148 to 87. IUCN has classified them as endangered, Outside of Iraq they are found in Libya, Egypt and Algeria, but according to conservation organization they are unlikely to number more than a few hundred.
The reserve is not able to supply emergency forage because it is out of funds. The government is crippled by urgent needs, corruption and financial crisis. At three other reserves further north, the populations have fallen by 25 percent. Sawa was established in 2007 near the southern city of Samawah. Summer has just begun by temperatures have already exceeded 50℃. Lakes and rivers are drying up. These gazelles are desert adapted animals, but even they succumb to the extreme conditions. Desertification affects 39% of Iraq. The president sent 100 million dinars to the reserve (($68,000) but its not enough. The gazelles simply lie prostrate, panting under the merciless sun until they expire. [photo credit; AFP]