Egypt restricts tourists to stop wildlife slaughter
The Sunday Times
1 January 1995
Simon Reeve
British tourists in search of biblical splendour in the Sinai desert face tough travel restrictions as the Egyptian government attempts to save rare birds and animals from extinction.
Many species, including the cheetah and the Nubian ass, are close to being wiped out by high-technology hunters from the wealthy Gulf states. European visitors on "drive safaris" into the beautiful wastes of Sinai and the western deserts are also held responsible for damaging the natural habitat.
President Hosni Mubarak ordered a ban on hunting in the western desert and Sinai peninsula last week after being told how convoys of Arab hunters bribe local officials to obtain tourist visas.
The state environment office has said the five-year ban will include camping and trekking, halting four-wheel-drive excursions and closing off large areas to foreigners. But the tourism ministry opposes such a ban and says the environment office does not have the power to order it.
Environmentalists, however, suspect Mubarak's order has come too late. "We consider that the Nubian ass and the cheetah are virtually extinguished in Egypt," said Merval Moros Gayed, director-general of Cairo zoo.
The Egyptian white gazelle is also on the verge of disappearing, according to Mahmoud Al-Saddani, a prominent newspaper columnist: "What is taking place in the Egyptian desert is plunder unprecedented in our history."
The ban is a desperate effort by the government to preserve the dwindling number of birds and mammals in areas such as Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, and the remote Siwa oasis, visited by Alexander the Great in 331BC to consult the oracle of Amun.
These sites are popular with Arab hunters, who mix ancient falconry skills with night-vision rifle scopes and radar. In just one province, hunting parties are believed to have killed more than 1,000 rare gazelles in the past five years. They favour animals they have already wiped out in their own countries.
One Saudi emir has apparently been waiting in a hotel for the past two weeks for permission to rent a game reserve for ú160,000 where he can kill without limit. His entourage of 29 vehicles is waiting in the desert. The brother of an Arabian monarch took 70 cars and 200 servants on a hunt.
Until now, officials admit, the government has been reluctant to act for fear of harming relations with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, home to most of the hunters, but all Arab embassies in Cairo have now been quietly asked to curb them.
The ban comes at a difficult time for Egypt, as it struggles to repair the damage caused to its economy and image by attacks on foreign visitors by Islamic fundamentalists. At least seven tourists have been killed in the past two years, nearly destroying the country's £2 billion tourist trade.
Egypt, which was turned into a tourist destination by Thomas Cook in the last century, has always been popular with Britons. But in the first seven months of 1994 the number of British visitors fell by 17 per cent. Despite the lure of Nile cruises for less than ú200, fleets of cruisers usually full of British passengers have been left empty.
Ted Woodhams, of Egyptian Encounter, a Hampshire-based tour operator, said the restrictions on desert travel would make things worse. "It is a great shame, because everyone knows of the tombs and the pyramids, but the deserts are the hidden treasure of the country and they were only just starting to be discovered," he said.
