"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد I. ١٩١٨" [‎٦‎٢] (٥٦٨/٧١)

CHAPTER IV
FAUNA AND FLOEA
Fauna
In Mesopotamia there are few kinds of wild animals that are of
economic use.
Both in the northern and southern plains gazelles, wild pig (in the
marshes and the tamarisk jungle along the rivers), and jackals are
common. Hyenas, foxes, long-haired desert hares, jerboas, porcu
pines, and rats are said to abound in upper Mesopotamia. In Irak
and Arabistan hyenas, foxes, hares, porcupines, and jerboas are men
tioned as occurring. Wolves are now rare in the plains (especially,
it seems, in the south), and the wild ass of upper Mesopotamia has
now almost disappeared. There are said to be still a few lions in
Arabistan, and perhaps on the Khabur in the western Jezlreh. Of
birds ravens, crows, owls, vultures, kites, hawks and falcons, wild
pigeons, sand-grouse, partridges, bustard, duck, snipe, quail, and
geese are found, and especially the permanent marshes of southern
Irak and Arabistan teem with many sorts of aquatic birds—various
kinds of duck, bittern, heron, coot, &c.
In the rivers there are several kinds of fish, but these are mostly
unfit to be eaten, at any rate by Europeans. The best known are
the hiss, which is often 6-7 ft. long and over 100 lb. in weight; the
shabut, which weighs from 2 to 6 lb.; and the bunni, which is
a smaller but better-tasting fish than the Sharks frequent
the Shatt el-Arab and the lower Tigris, sometimes reaching Baghdad
and even Samarra in the hot season: they are also found in the
Karun. Water-tortoises are common. Otters occur in Irak and on
the lower Karun, and are sometimes hunted by the natives for their
skins.
In the mountains the bear (black or brown), the hyena, the lynx,
the fox, the wild pig, and the wild goat are fairly common. Leopards
and panthers are said to be found here and there in the Persian
mountains. Squirrels of various kinds exist, and the marten is
trapped for its fur. There are eagles in the higher altitudes. Both
the Kurds and the Lurs take honey from wild bees.