Islands as natural enclosure II: Porcupines and gazelles

For centuries, if not for millennia, several of the Mediterranean islands were better known for their richness in certain zoological species, more useful as a source for meat than for their faunal repertoire in general. In fact, since prehistory many of the mammals most adaptable to the specific environmental conditions of even small and barren islands, such as hares, wild goats, and later, rabbits, have been brought by sailors and let loose on islands,so that they could breed and provide a store of fresh meat readily available for the passengers of ships. Recent archaeozoological and biogeographical evidence also suggests that from the prehistoric period on porcupines, Hystrix sp., and gazelles, Gazella sp., were imported voluntarily onto the islands of the Mediterranean basin, the Red Sea and/or the Persian Gulf, to provide living depositories of animal proteins along the marine routes of antiquity.