Page 196 - Arabian Studies (I)

180 Arabian Studies 1

PORCUPINES IN THE YEMEN

On 25 August 1972 when we were in the upper part of the WadT
Dahr, the valley itself lying some twenty minutes drive to the north
of San‘a\ capital of the Yemen, a member of our small party, Mrs ‘Gigi’
Gohdes, picked up what appeared to be a porcupine quill. Local
people at once recognised the quill as belonging to an animal which
they called qumairah, but our driver from the Jabal Tyal YazTd
district to the north of ‘Amran and west of the San‘a’—al-Raidah
road, told us that they call it 'anazah there. Qumairah does not seem
to be a word known to classical Arabic and 4anazah would not have
that sense in it. The quill was white-ish in colour with brownish-black
markings and about six to seven inches long. From the descriptions
including the approximate size of the animal given us by the local
people it would appear to be some kind of porcupine. The Wadi
Dahr is watered by a perennial stream running along the wadi-
bottom covered with green grass, and it is beautifully laid out with
orchards and Fields. The qumairah, said the local people, climbs up
branches to get at fruit, it eats the crops, and even attacks the qat
(catha edulis) trees — something that I have never heard that other
animals do, and as qat is expensive this must cause considerable
annoyance. The porcupine is regarded as a pest and is killed either by
shooting it or hitting it on the head - when in danger it forms itself
into a ball. Our driver and others told us that this animal was not
uncommon in these wadis in the west side of the road to the north,
and the driver added that in the lava patch north of WadT Dahr one
also came across hyenas and foxes. In fact in the areas north of
San‘a’ foxes and hares seemed far from uncommon.
Dr David L. Harrison writes: ‘The animal concerned is certainly
hystrix indica. The species is known from the vicinity of Aden but,
so far as I am aware, this is the first record from the North Yemen.’
On consulting his The Mammals of Arabia (London, 1964—72), iii,
401—7, one learns that it was reported as early as 1895 from the hills
a few miles north of al-Hawtah (Lahej) and other fairly near-by
places, but not, apparently from other parts of Arabia. A name given
for it by an earlier collector is gendebah, but this seems improbable
since the word is normally applied to a locust.
R.B.S.

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