Can landscape use be among the factors that potentially make some ungulates species more difficult to conserve?

Mountain gazelles Gazella gazella have historically been more difficult to protect than Nubian ibex Capra nubiana in the Ibex Reserve, Saudi Arabia. I tested poachers’ claims that mountain gazelles are easier to hunt and experience more anthropogenic disturbances than Nubian ibex because of mountain gazelles’ use of open landscapes. My results show that mountain gazelles occurred in significantly wider valleys that are accessible to off road vehicles and which resulted in spatial overlap with domestic livestock. In contrast, Nubian ibex occurred in narrower valleys that were less accessible to off road vehicles, further away from people, and had no significant spatial overlap with domestic livestock. Mountain gazelles and Nubian ibex occurred in significantly different valley widths in areas protected and unprotected from hunting, suggesting that anthropogenic disturbances may be affecting ungulate spatial use. Use of open landscapes makes mountain gazelles more susceptible to anthropogenic disturbances, hunting from off-road vehicles, and competition from livestock, which could be among the factors that explain why mountain gazelles have been more difficult to protect than Nubian ibex.