Saudi environmental police arrest 3 individuals for illegal hunting, arson

Saudi authorities have arrested three citizens for violating the Kingdom’s environmental laws, including two for illegal hunting of wildlife and one accused of arson, the Special Forces for Environmental Security (SPES) announced on Sunday.

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the SPES said its field patrols arrested Ahmed Suleiman Maqbool Al-Sharari and Zahir Dhaif Allah Muslim Al-Sharari for hunting without a license inside the King Salman Royal Natural Reserve (KSRNR).

The duo were caught in possession of a firearm and live ammunition and a rabbit that they caught, according to SPES.

“Regular procedures were taken against them and they were referred to the competent authority” for further investigation, it said.

SPES said that the penalty for using firearms while hunting without a license is a fine of 80,000 riyals ($21,300), and the penalty for hunting during seasons and times when hunting is prohibited is a fine of 5,000 riyals ($1,330), and the penalty for hunting wild rabbits is a fine of 18,000 riyals ($4,790).

Covering an area of 130,000 square kilometers, KSRNR is Saudi Arabia’s largest natural reserve. Located in the Kingdom’s north near the border with Jordan, it is known for its geographic and heritage diversity, and rare monuments dating back to about 8,000 BC.

In the arson case reported separately by SPA, the SPES said the arrested citizen — the identity was not mentioned — was found to have set fire to vegetation cover in the northwestern province of Hail.

The agency noted that the penalty for setting fire to vegetation cover lands is a fine of up to 3000 riyals ($799).

SPES called on the public to help protect the environment by reporting violations to the following hotlines:

• 911 in the regions of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province

• 999 and 996 in the rest of the Kingdom.