The central High Atlas mountains of Morocco encompass an area of 10,502 km2 and have a rich biological diversity. The last observations of the serval Leptailurus serval, leopard Panthera pardus and Barbary lion Panthera leo in Morocco were in these mountains. This area is still home to eight carnivore species (golden jackal Canis aureus, African wolf Canis lupus lupaster, red fox Vulpes vulpes, wild cat Felis silvestris, striped hyaena Hyaena hyaena, Eurasian otter Lutra lutra, common genet Genetta genetta and least weasel Mustela nivalis), two of which are categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
On 5 May 2021, the M'goun Geopark Association and the Moroccan Association of Life and Earth Sciences Teachers, in collaboration with the Sultan Moulay Slimane, Cadi Ayyad and Hassan II universities, organized a workshop to examine the major threats to carnivores and the challenges to their conservation in this region and to provide recommendations for the protection of biodiversity in the central High Atlas. The workshop was an opportunity to reflect on past conservation studies and actions and to discuss coordination among researchers, local people, regional and national authorities, and NGOs.
The carnivore species of the High Atlas are threatened by overhunting, habitat destruction, highly fragmented populations and the risk of local extinction. Surveys of carnivores in the central High Atlas during 2019–2021 by AE and AF, with support from The Rufford Foundation, indicated there is increasing conflict between people and wild carnivores, particularly in the context of the predation of domestic animals. The majority of inhabitants have negative attitudes towards wild carnivores, and hunt and kill them to protect their livestock. Although the inhabitants know it is illegal to capture or kill wild carnivores, they continue to do so, using techniques such as poisoning.
To conserve the native carnivores of the central High Atlas, the workshop participants agreed that urgent measures need to be taken to (1) encourage rural community development projects, (2) help the inhabitants use non-lethal techniques to protect their livestock from carnivores, (3) manage human–carnivore interactions to increase public tolerance for wild carnivores, (4) raise awareness about the ecological and economic roles of wild carnivores, and (5) develop compensation programmes to assist local people by reimbursing them for losses attributable to predators.
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