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Acknowledgments

The genesis of this guide came way back in 1989 when I was writing a profile of one of Egypt’s leading naturalists, Ibrahim Helmy, for what was then Cairo Today. Having patiently endured several interviews for the piece, Ibrahim, with his customary generosity, handed me a copy of the key work on Egyptian mammals he had written with Dale Osborn, both then of the Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (NAMRU), The Contemporary Land Mammals of Egypt (including Sinai). Within these pages I discovered the incredible variety of Egypt’s mammal fauna and for this gesture, and many others, I owe Ibrahim a huge debt. Also key in opening my eyes to the mammals of not only Egypt but the region has been David Harrison of the Harrison Institute in Sevenoaks in England. Each summer over the past few years, David has opened the doors of his Institute to me and allowed me access to his invaluable collection, without which many of the color plates in this book would not have been possible. He made many useful comments on the plates and has also shared his thoughts on subjects as diverse as the Sinai Leopard and gerbil taxonomy. Thanks also to Paul Bates. Another inspiration has been Sherif Baha El Din, with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing several expeditions, and whose skills as a field naturalist constantly astound. Thanks also to his wife Mindy Baha El Din for her zest and enthusiasm and to Dina Aly and Rank Khalil for their dedication to Egyptian wildlife. Of the many experts who unselfishly shared their knowledge with me I would particularly like to thank John Grainger of the St. Katherine Protectorate and the wardens who work so hard there under the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), and also Tim Wacher. Thanks also to Waheed Salama, also of the EEAA, and his staff for their help and assistance in the Zaranik Protected Area. My introduction to the sea mammals of the Red Sea was courtesy of Michael Pearson, whose contribution to the conservation of Sinai should never be underrated. Any acknowledgement of the EEAA over recent years must include Salah Hafez and Mustafa Fouda.

I would like to thank the librarians at the British Museum of Natural History and at the Zoological Society of London, especially Ann Sylph, for their patience and assistance.

At the American University in Cairo I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the faculty, past and present, of the Biology Department for their knowledge and support. The late Ken Horner was my first contact with the department but it is to Derek Russell that I owe an especial debt of thanks for his company and guidance on many desert trips and for sharing his experience and knowledge over many a campfire. Andy Main very kindly checked the manuscript through for taxonomic blips and on several occasions saved me deep embarrassment. I would like to thank him for his thoroughness and stress that any errors that remain are my own. But I would like also to acknowledge here his role in creating one of the most exciting and dynamic departments in the university. I especially thank Jeff Miller, who took on the tedious task of converting my hand drawn range maps into the neat exercises in cartography that now accompany each species entry. Again, any shortfalls are mine. Thanks also to Ian Jenness, Carey Dustin, Moshira Hassan, and Samir Ghabbour.

This guide is unusual in that the writer is also the illustrator, and in the second role I owe a number of special thanks, not least to the mammal curators at the British Museum of Natural History and once more to David Harrison. Special thanks go to Esther Wenman formerly of London Zoo and also to Terry Moore and his colleagues at the Cat Survival Trust, through whom I was able to get unprecedented access to Caracals and Swamp Cats under near natural conditions.

At the American University in Cairo Press I would like to express my gratitude to Arnold Tovell, without whose support this project might have never got off the ground, and to Neil Hewison for his patience over the years when it may have looked as though, having got off the ground, it was never going to land! I am also grateful to Neil for his help with the Arabic names. Thanks also to Matthew Carrington, Sigrún Valsdóttir, my copyeditor Meghan Lynch Schwartz, and designer Andrea El-Akshar.

Many friends and colleagues gave their support over the years spent on the guide. Virginia McKenna of the BornFree Foundation and Julie Wartenberg of WSPA deserve particular mention as do Abdel Aziz Ezz El Arab, Fadel Assabghy, Omar Attum, Dave Blanks, Kate Coffield, Tom Coles, Lillian Craig-Harris, Robin Donkin, Sheryl Ducummon, Mahmoud Farag, the late John Gerhart, Dalia Ghanem, Alan Goulty, Anahid Harrison, Renate Hubinger, Salima Ikram, Chris Magin, Petra Roeglin, Marietta Sawert, Sara El Sayed, Rolf Schmidt, Armin Schröker, Nazli Shank, and Cluny South. Thanks as ever go to my family.