Banc d'Arguin Nature Reserve enjoys protected status for birds and many animals south-western Mauritania.
Given its geographical location and as it is on the right bank of the Senegal River Delta, the reserve plays a vital role for maintaining thousands of types of birds and endangered animals distinction as rabbits, crocodiles, wild boars and hippos.
But despite the strict exercised by the Mauritanian authorities on monitoring the borders of the Banc d'Arguin, the flight of several animals outside the borders of the reserve exposes them to unsustainable hunting exercised hundreds of hunters. These spend most of their time watching the birds and wildlife around the edges of the reserve.
The inhabitants of this reserve say they can recognize the 4x4 cars used by hunters to watch for animals especially during the weekend. Indeed, hunting barons fuse from Nouakchott to snipe all the animals that fall into their hands.These are the rabbits and .... Indeed, the meat of these animals is considered, according to Mauritanian tradition, as a remedy against impotence in men.
One of the natives of the region, Sayed Ahmed, told dune-voices that environmental services responsible for the protection of the reserve blind eye to the excesses of some hunters. He says he is mostly influential people, whether senior military officers or businessmen son. However, he says, the law is strictly applied when the hunters are native deprived persons in the region who hunt wild pigeons with primitive means.
Sayed Ahmed noted that the locals do not suffer only the deterioration of the ecosystem reserves by hunters, but, also, serious injuries that occur when hunting in areas where hunting is not allowed. He added that the cattle were hit by bullets when hunters pursued their prey.
Industry experts ensure that the majority of land animals in Mauritania is already lost in the desert, which continues to expand. In addition, the Wild Hunt has gained ground with the proliferation of all-terrain vehicles.
Thus, the antelope of the desert, which numbered in the thousands of heads across the Mauritanian territory, have almost disappeared since the 90s because of over-hunting. It is the same for the oryx and ostrich, which are almost disappeared.
Faced with such a disaster of the ecosystem, the Mauritanian authorities were forced to publish the first law in 2010 that prohibited the hunting land without prior authorization. This law concerns all hunters on Mauritanian soil without exception.
And despite the difficulties facing the law to be applied, some find it was published very late. Indeed, the aforementioned law has failed to eradicate large irregular fighter operations acting on the extent of the desert and the government is unable to control for lack of adequate resources.
The application of the law, organizing hunting in Mauritania remains relative because of overruns passionate hunters hunting of wild birds and animals threatened with extinction. These difficulties are all the more amplified the geographic extent of the hunting areas is very wide while the means available to the keepers are very limited.
