Fauna

Yemen has a rich and diverse terrestrial fauna because of the wide range of habitats in the country and due to its position at the juncture of three major biogeographic regions: the Pale-arctic, Afro-tropical and Oriental regions.

Yemen has 71 recorded land mammal species representing eight orders including bats. About one third of the mammals are relatively large species which are rare in other parts of Arabia such as the Idmi or Arabian Mountain Gazelle (Gazella gazella), Ibex (Capra ibex nubiana), Baboon (Papio hamadryas), Arabian Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes arabicus), Sand Fox (Vulpes ruppelli), Blanford's Fox (Vulpes cana), Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena), Arabian Wolf (Canis lupus arabs), Jackal (Canis aureus), Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr), and possibly the Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).

Yemen also has a very rich bird life with more than 363 species thus far recorded representing 18 orders, 61 families and 177 genera. It is a home to a large number of species that are endemic to southwest Arabia. For a country to be so richly endowed with endemic birds adds greatly to its international significance. With the exception of the Arabian Golden Sparrow, all endemic species occur in the Mainland. The loss of the terracing systems could adversely affect several of the endemics as a result of soil erosion and loss of trees. Terrestrial arthropods are represented by 5 classes, 38 orders, 313 families, 1 833 genera, and 3 372 species.

A total of 103 species of Reptiles and 8 species of Amphibians have been recorded in Yemen. The reptiles of Yemen include 71 species of lizards, 28 snakes and 3 amphibians, all belonging to the Order Squamata which comprises the largest reptilian group. Turtles (Order Testudinata) are represented in Yemen by 7 species, one terrestrial species (Geochelon sulcata), one freshwater species (Pelomadora subrufa) and four species of marine turtles. The amphibians include 8 species belonging to 3.

	Amphibians
	Birds
	Mamals
	Reptiles