Meeting mammals in Morocco

Between March 1 and 15, 2025, my wife Anja and I travelled to Morocco exploring, hiking, and observing wildlife. We saw numerous nature reserves, wild places, and some interesting new species.

High on my wish list is to see the Aoudad or Barbary Sheep (Ammotragus lervia) in its natural environment. First we try at Imlil, the starting point for climbs to Jebel Toubkal, North Africa’s highest mountain at 4.167 metres. The Toubkal is nestled within the national park of the same name. Information about the presence of Aoudad is conflicting. According to the IUCN Red list for this species, it is said to still exist. On the other hand inaturalist does not list a single specimen in that region (whereby this could be a bias, since mountaineers rarely have a deeper interest in wildlife and mammal watchers rarely climb mountains). I want to find out more.

I ask the locals. They tell me the population is extinct. There is also a fancy restaurant called “Annexe Les Mouflons”. The name probably refers to the French name of the Aoudad, “Mouflon à manchettes”. They advertise their establishment with a picture of a Thyrennian Mouflon, a species that does not live in Africa. Maybe this is another hint, that the Aoudad hasn’t been seen in the area for a long time. I find out about an enclosure, called “Réserve d’ Amassine” (Ramzi et al, 2018). Hopefully the idea is to release the animals into the wild. Until then, for me, there’s no reason to climb a dead mountain. We hope for the future. 

At Family Berber Lodge, where we stay, we make some nice bird observations. We see African crimson-winged finch (Rhodopechys alienus) on our terrace.

We hear Levaillant’s Woodpecker (Picus vaillantii) down in the valley. And at night we listen to a Maghreb Owl (Strix mauritanica). It takes me a while, then I find it on top of the local minaret, just like a barn owl does at home on a church tower.

I know there are better places in Morocco to look for Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus), but we want to try the Ourika Valley. The valley’s main attraction is its waterfalls. We read that the valley can get crowded at times. But since we’re driving up the valley with hardly any traffic, we’re hoping for a quiet day. Well, we are wrong. Not many tourists have come here yet, but it seems as if all the tour guides from all over Africa have gathered to welcome us. In Setti-Fatma people stand in the middle of the road to indicate that THEIR parking space is the best in the world. That’s too much of a welcome for us. Without the hope of enjoying some nature in peace we turn around – without ever setting foot outside.

The next day, we plan to cross the Atlas Mountains via the Tiz ’n Test road. The mountains to the left and right are Aoudad country. We make many stops, partly to search the slopes for animals, and partly because we have to: The road to Tiz ’n Test is being expanded.

The Tiz ’n Test road is legendary. It winds its way up to the pass in endless curves. It is sometimes narrow, exposed, and sometimes vehicles have difficulties passing each other. This may sound like a disadvantage, it isn’t for nature lovers. The road is adapted to the topography, the route winds along the slopes, for every stream it goes in the mountain and out again. Vehicles can’t go fast. Whatever grows along the roadside, whatever hops along there, can be observed from the moving car. Well, it WAS POSSIBLE, I must say. Driving the Tiz ’n Test road as a nature experience will soon be history.

The road is currently being expanded to a very wide, presumably multi-lane highway. To protect the roadway from rockfall, the embankments are being removed by 20 to 30 metres in height to reduce the slope angle. What is a dream for geologists – to be able to peer deep into the mountain – is a loss for other nature lovers: It will be just bare rock, all vegetation will be lost. And with the high speeds that will be reached in the future, you will be forced to just concentrate on the road. What might be good for the economy in general, must not be good for nature based tourism.

The good news is, that there are now options for spending the night on the pass, at 2.100 metres. Either in a small hotel or at a campsite. Well, „campsite“ might not quite be the right word, but there is at least a spot and you can have a shower. There’s another Aoudad enclosure up here, and one of the operators of the hotel assured me that they also get to see the animals outside of the enclosure. Check: www.tizintest-hotel.com We have no time to stay. Next stop: Souss Massa.

Souss Massa is located along the Moroccan Atlantic coast. This National Park (SMNP) covers 338 km² and stretches over no less than 65 kilometres, from the Souss River mouth in the north to the Adoudou River mouth near Sidi Moussa Aglou in the south. 

On average it is 5 kilometres wide. Most of its areas consist of cliffs, sand dunes, as well as calcareous rocky steppes. The SMNP offers breeding programs for four endangered North African ungulates: the Scimitar-horned Oryx (Oryx dammah), the Addax (Addax nasomaculatus), the Dama Gazelle (Nanger dama), and the Dorcas Gazelle (Gazella dorcas). They are held in two different enclosures, a bigger one in the north, where we see Addax, Dorcas Gazelle and Ostriche (Struthio camelus), and a smaller one to the south with Scimitar-horned Oryx. Apparently the Dama Gazelle is difficult to see, in fact, we never get to see it. The landscape within the enclosures is quite well preserved, while the private land in between is pretty overgrazed and degraded. You need a guide to drive through the enclosures.

The Spanish Wikipedia lists various other mammals for the area: Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). Even Honey Badgers (Mellivora capensis) are said to be occasionally sighted. Several small mammals are frequent, among them Barbary Ground Squirrel (Atlantoxerus getulus), Hoogstraal’s Gerbil (Gerbillus hoogstraali), Barbary striped grass Mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus), North African Elephant Shrew (Petrosaltator rozeti). The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is abundant, particularly in the vicinity of the mouth of the Massa. 

There are also great birds in Souss Massa:

We stay at the Hotel Palmerai de Massa, which is beautifully situated but expensive. A small hotel is currently being built near the Souss Massa Ecomuseum, which will be perfectly located for excursions into the area.

On our way through the Anti-Atlas, we stop at the well known spot for the North African Elephant Shrew (Petrosaltator rozeti) at 30°03’35.9″N 9°05’28.7″W. The habitat covered with euphorbias is fantastic.

The supposed burrow is a pile of stones, probably left behind during road construction. I find droppings and shells of Argan nuts. The North African Elephant Shrew’s main diet consists of insects and other invertebrates. I read in a study conducted in Algeria that only five percent of its diet is plant-based (Marniche et al., 2014). The Argan nut seems to play a role here. – It’s raining. The elephant shrew has no desire for nuts today, nor does it want to show its face.

Otherwise, the Anti-Atlas from here to the town of Tata is an incredibly picturesque area. And so remote. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem remote enough for the Cuvier’s Gazelle (Gazella cuvieri), which has become very rare. I guess I should have taken more time to look for it. We miss it.

We reach the small town of Foum Zguid, from where we want to start for a three-day dromedary trek through Erg Chegaga. Erg Chegaga is one of only a few sand desert areas in Morocco. Erg Chebbi, only 110 km² in size, near the town of Mersouga is the most famous one. It is a very busy place with many camps, quad driving, camel riding, sand boarding, etc. Erg Chegaga, 150 km², is still more pristine than Erg Chebbi. Since the area was a military restricted area until around 1990, it was probably later developed for tourism. Our guides from „Desert Foum Zguid“ tell us that also today we are not allowed to go really close to the Maroccan-Algerian border.

We first drive into the area with an off-road vehicle for about two hours. Along the way, we stop at the spot where Lake Iriki once was. The guides tell us, just two generations ago, fish was caught here, which the locals sold to caravan traders. Several factors contributed to the drying up of the lake. The most significant was probably the construction of the El-Mansour Eddahbi reservoir in 1971. Since then, significant amounts of water have been diverted near Ouarzazate for agriculture and to supply the population with water. However, a lack of rainfall during years of severe drought caused it to dry up completely. We are fortunate to be able to experience the lake with at least some water remaining.

Our guides tell us that there are still two species of gazelle in the Erg Chegaga, a larger and a smaller one. If this is true, they must be Cuvier’s Gazelle and Dorcas Gazelle. Fennec Fox (Fulpes zerda) and Sand Cat (Felis margarita) are also said to still be present.

Around midday on the first day, we set off with five dromedaries – two pack animals, and three apprentices. I soon discover the tracks of a fox, presumably a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes barbara), as well as the tracks of two gazelles. After dinner, the guides deposit the leftovers outside the camp. They are untouched the next morning.

On the second day, we have to set up camp at around 2 p.m. due to a sandstorm. We therefore spend a lot of time in the camp until the evening. Despite the storm, I repeatedly climb the next, higher dune and search the area for life, also at night with my thermal camera, but to no avail.

On the third day, we hike north again and out of the erg. The last few kilometres are through Hammada or stone desert. While this landscape isn’t as attractive as the dunes area, it seems to be home to more animal species, such as the Greater Hoopoe-lark (Alaemon alaudipes), the Greater Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla), or the Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx sp.). We also run into many dromedaries, too many.

Looking back, the days in the Moroccan desert were a wonderful experience, even though I didn’t spot many animals. Our guides laugh about the situation in Erg Chebbi and describe it as „Marrakech in the desert.“ In my opinion, however, the tranquility in Erg Chegaga may soon be over too. Several permanent camps and ubiquitous tire tracks in the gravel plains between the dunes indicate that mass tourism could soon dominate here as well, and the last remaining wild desert animals could soon have an even harder time. And to emphasize again: Morocco’s share of the Sahara is tiny. Erg Chegagga and Erg Chebbi make up just 0,06 percent of Morocco’s total land mass. If mass tourism cannot be curbed here, Morocco will completely lose its natural desert.

But it still exists: the opportunity to experience nature in the Moroccan Desert in a gentle way. Next time, I would plan more days. I suspect the further you hike toward the Algerian border, the greater the chance of spotting gazelles, Fennec Foxes, and Sand Cats. Go there! Tell them you want to find gazelle tracks in the sand, not tire tracks. Tell them that you don’t like the roar of engines. Explain that you want it so quiet you could hear a Sand Cat purring.

Via Zagora, we cross the Jbel Sarhro, a mountainous region of volcanic origin approximately 150 kilometres long and 50 kilometres wide, which can be seen as an extension of the Anti-Atlas in a northwesterly direction. The pass where we cross the region from south to north is the 2.283 metre high pass Tizi n‘ Tazazert. There’s a café, where I get information about the surrounding wildlife.

The young man serving us is quite knowledgeable about wildlife and knows that there were Aoudad in the region in the past. But like in so many regions of Morocco, they are no longer there. I ask him about Gundis (Ctenodactylus sp.), and he knows them too. His cat just caught one this morning. WHAT?! A little further down the road, he says, is a place where he often sees them. Bingo! Let’s go!

We drive a short distance down the south side of the pass and stop at 31.11884150126538, -5.777920743389559. In my „If-I-were-a-Gundi“-fantasy the uphill slopes here are the environment I would want to live in as a Gundi: large boulders with hollows, covered with natural, sparse vegetation. We keep our distance, walk up and down the road, and peer into every hole with our binoculars. Nothing.

We cross the road and look down into the valley, where we can see even further into the landscape. „There!“ whispers Anja. „Where?“ I ask, continuing to search down the slope. „Right in front of us!“ And sure enough, not ten metres away, I spot my first Gundi, an animal that at first glance resembles a pika or a guinea pig (31.11809973814787, -5.777252294275101). Whoosh, it’s gone, but a few seconds later it is back. As it turns out, gundis are neither shy nor resentful. You can approach them. If you disturb them too much, they’ll hide, but they’ll soon be back at their favorite spot, where they like to bask in the sun.

Over the course of an hour, we see maybe six different individuals living in a small colony in a pile of rocks here on the bend (another indication that it is C. gundi. Another species, C. vali, lives rather solitary – except during mating season.) The rocks were piled up as part of the road construction. Apparently, the Gundis prefer this artificial habitat, probably because the rocks are larger and the spaces between them are correspondingly larger too. Another cool discovery is that two Barbary Ground Squirrels (Atlantoxerus getulus) share the rocks with the Gundis. Great! My idea of ​​a Gundi is now much more complete.

Next place is Tinghir and the Todra-Gorge (also written Toudgha). The Todra Gorge is a limestone river canyon in the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains. The height of the canyon walls varies, reaching up to 400 metres in places.

The last 600 metres of the Todra Gorge are the most spectacular. Here, the canyon narrows to a width of only 10 metres in places. The Todra Gorge is one of Morocco’s main tourist attractions. Be prepared to run into hundreds of other tourists in the final section of the gorge. My hope is that Aoudad can use the tourist crowds as a human shield, meaning they are protected from poachers by the presence of the crowds. And I think I’m not far off the mark.

About six kilometres north of the tourist hustle and bustle lies the Auberge Le Festival Todra Gorge, a beautifully designed lodge. This is the right place. Upon checking in, I notice a horn on a shelf. I recognize it, it’s from an Aoudad. I ask the young receptionist, „Are there still Aoudads in this region?“ He’s surprised, I think, that I know this animal name from the Berber language, and says, „If you’re lucky, you might see them in the garden at night.“ Bingo! I provocatively follow up, „So? Do you shoot them then?“ He reacts with believable shock and mentions a sum in the millions that has to be paid for poaching. The sum is exaggerated, but at least it’s known that hefty fines are payable for illegal shooting. I go out again to get our luggage. By chance, my binoculars are lying in the console.

I bring the binoculars to my eyes and aim them where my „If-I-were-an-Aoudad“-instinct leads me. It takes a few seconds, then I see a male standing over the precipice in the best light. Damn! How can I be so lucky?! I call Anja, pack my gear, and set off immediately.

We discover a small herd consisting of an adult male, a female, a juvenile, and a young male. Fantastic! I’ve observed Barbary Sheep at the Berlin Zoo and the Al-Ain Zoo, as well as an alien species in Croatia and the Emirates. I’ve compiled information about this species on my website.

Now I see it in its natural habitat for the first time. It’s only a short time until nightfall. Anyway, there’s enough time for two remarkable observations:

One special feature in Barbary sheep is the timing of reproduction. Typically, for most ungulates of the Paleo- and Nearctic, the mating season occurs in May/June, a time when air temperatures are already high enough for the young to survive. This time is also good so that the young are big enough to survive the temperatures of the following winter.

Barbary sheep on the other hand are known for their year-round reproduction. The Todra Gorge near the village is located at an altitude of about 1.300 metres. It is possible that the temperatures here are indeed such year-round that young animals generally have a good chance of survival. In any case, we observe on March 10 that the older male seeks proximity to the female, the younger male follows at a safe distance, and the older male occasionally ensures that this remains the case.

The second observation is that I can fairly confidently identify a food plant of the Barbary Sheep. Although we are at least 200 metres away from the animals, we clearly see the female feeding on a strikingly red plant. I later search for the plant, where it is accessible and identify it as Ruby ​​dock (Rumex vesicarius).

The next day we go for a hike. The most popular trail in the area is a circuit, that starts at the parking lot near the gorge, crosses the shoulder, and descends into the village at the gorge entrance. Again, the idea is to find Aoudad near the tourists, because poachers fear being spotted there. The hike is beautiful, and the view into the gorge is gorgeous, but it turns out that locals still live in caves on the surrounding slopes with their livestock and dogs. The Barbary sheep is a hardy animal, but the hustle and bustle here is probably too much for the animals. We don’t see them again.

Next stop: the Fat Sand Rat site near Boumalne Dadès. Fat Sand Rats (Psammomys obesus) are said to be found along the road to Izoumgane or Tagadilt. We find a colony of this magnificent species near the N10 junction. We see four or five different animals. It takes a while for them to get used to our presence, but eventually, we see them interacting and feeding. Magnificent!

We spend the night in Aït-Ben-Haddou, whose old town has served as a film backdrop. Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here (1962), as were The Mummy and Gladiator. We stay at the Riad Paradise of Silence, which is located on the outskirts of the village and from where you can walk into the surrounding Hamada in just a few minutes.

Our host warns us: „The dogs in the village are no problem, but you should beware of the dogs, you encounter in the desert.“ Before going to bed, we take a walk with the thermal camera. Apart from a fox, we can’t see anything, and sure enough, dogs appear out of nowhere about a kilometre outside the village. We don’t want to take any chances and head back home. I finally have to get a rabies vaccination so I’ll be better prepared for such situations.

After that last episode and 1829 covered kilometres, we are back in Marrakesh soon. We loved Morocco, and I’d love to come back again.

Literature

Aulagnier et al., 2008: Mammals of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Bloomsbury.

Erraoui, E. and Fakir, F. Z., 2019: Le développement de l’écotourisme dans les aires protégées: Quel type de clientèle? Cas du Parc national de Souss Massa

Faiza, M. et al, 2014: Overview of the diet of the shrew of elephant of North Africa (Elephantulus rozeti, Duvernoy, 1833) (Mammalia, Macroscelididae) around the Jbel El Taref (Oum El Bouaghi – Arid semi). International Journal of Zoology and Research (IJZR) 4 (1), 2014, S. 7–10

Ramzi, H. et al., 2018: Conservation d’une population de Mouflon à manchettes (Ammotragus lervia Pallas, 1777) (Mammalia, Bovidae) dans un espace clos: cas de la réserve d’Amassine dans le Haut-Atlas (Parc National du Toubkal, Maroc). Revue d’ Écologie (La Terre et La Vie). DOI: 10.3406/revec.2018.1951