RELEASE TECHNIQUES AND PREDATION IN THE INTRODUCTION OF HOUBARA BUSTARDS IN SAUDI-ARABIA

Experimental releases of captive-bred houbara Chlamydotis undulata mac queenii bustards were conducted at Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area in w estern Saudi Arabia front 1992 to 1994. three release techniques were tested: release of broods, release of feather-cut subadults and releas e of flying subadults. Releases were made in a 400 ha enclosure free o f mammalian predators from where houbara were free to fly into the res erve. Approximately two-thirds of feather-cut subadults were killed by avian predators inside the enclosure, before they were able to fly. C hicks in broods also were susceptible to avian predation inside the re lease enclosure and mammalian carnivores outside the enclosure. Howeve r, 36% of chicks released were introduced successfully. Greatest succe ss (48%) was achieved with flying subadult release. Experimental remov al (translocation) of red foxes Vulpes vulpes and feral cats Felis dom esticus from the vicinity of the release enclosure affected the tempor al and spatial distribution of mammalian predation but not the overall rate. At the end of 1994, 35 introduced houbara were free-ranging in the reserve, some having been so for as long as 27 months, and they ap peared to no longer be seriously threatened by predation. (C) 1998 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.