Finding slender-horned gazelles in the Sahara's Grand Erg Oriental, Tunisia

North-African slender-horned gazelles are facing extensive poaching pressure. The main remaining population patch occurs in Saharan habitat between Tunisia and Algeria. Access to the species' distribution range in both countries is limited by difficult terrain and strict permitting requirements. We explored a mix of aerial (1365 km) and ground transects (351 km) to monitor the Grand Erg Oriental which covers the species' range in Tunisia. Only ungulate spoors but no gazelles were observed during the aerial survey over the southern part of the study area. Ground survey in the northern part revealed more conclusive results with evidence and observation of one couple, one group of three and another of four individuals. Our results confirm the presence of a slender-horned gazelle population in Tunisia yet support the need for immediate intervention to halt its decline. Ex-situ conservation is essential to the species’ future survival and continuous monitoring of the wild range is recommended.