Fox, viper rescued in gov’t-civil society cooperation

CAIRO – 21 September 2017: A red fox and a hornet viper have been rescued from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport and released into their natural habitat in Ras Mohamed National Park, in a process that involved civil society and the South Sinai Nature Reserves authority.

Because of tight security at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport, the authorities requested that red foxes, which are common in Egypt, hyenas and hornet vipers be removed from the vicinity of the airport because they may cause technical difficulties during the landing of aircrafts, according to a Monday statement by Youth Love Egypt , an NGO specialized in documenting wildlife in national parks and raising environmental awareness.

“We did not take a long time to release the fox and the viper, especially that the fox looked terrified after being locked in a cage for a long time. Once the door was opened it ran away fast for a long distance. We still followed its movement until we were certain he ventured into his natural habitat,” said Mahmoud al-Shamy, head of the documentation department of the NGO.


A hornet viper released into Ras Mohamed National Park - Youth Love Egypt Foundation Facebook page

The animals are attracted to Sharm el-Sheikh Airport because of the foods available therein; the airport agreed with South Sinai Nature Reserves to release the captured animals into Ras Mohamed, Nabq, or St. Catherine protectorates with the help of the local Bedouins, according to Essam Saadallah, head of Ras Mohamed National Park.


A red fox ready to be released - Youth Love Egypt Foundation Facebook page

Volunteers at Youth who love Egypt visit national parks on monthly basis to clean the protected areas.