Meet UAE's Mountain Man Who Grew Up Hunting Foxes, Wolves In RAK

Ali Bin Mohamed, an Emirati“mountain man” in his eighties, moves through the International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) like a celebrity - cane in hand, he pauses every once in a while as visitors ask to take photos with him. Every year, he drives in from RAK to attend the exhibition.

Having grown up in the mountains during the 1940s, '50s and '60s, hunting and weapons were part of his everyday life; everything they hunted was eaten - from gazelles to foxes. Being armed was a necessity when roaming the rugged terrain, both to guard against wild animals and possible infiltrators. After the Union's formation and the shift to city life, firearms became restricted, relegated to storage at home“just in case” they were needed for defence. The retired soldier says he visits ADIHEX each year to examine the latest weapons.“And if I like anything, I can buy it later from our area,” he told Khaleej Times.

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He recalls encountering vultures and wild creatures,“including wild cats, foxes and wolves, which we had to shoot to stop them from attacking our cattle.” Those wild creatures, he says,“went extinct in that area; we haven't encountered any wolves since the late 1960s.”

“I lived my earlier life in the mountains near Musandam. We had nothing there except the mountain and its creatures - no schools, no doctors, nothing.”

He isn't sure of his exact birthdate, but thinks he "probably came to the world around 1944.”

“When we were kids, we used hunting rifles like mauser. We hunted gazelles, foxes... I was 15 the first time I hunted prey - it was a gazelle,” he recalls.

“Back in the days we ate foxes as well, and they tasted good. We used to slaughter it, cut its tail first, then bring date extract and cook it in hot water with herbs - and wore its fur...”

His mountain days ended shortly after Ras Al Khaimah joined the union in 1972.“We moved to the city, and then I became a soldier. I also took part as part of the Deterrent Forces during Lebanon's Civil War; we stayed there for four months, based across several units. That was in the eighties.” He retired on December 17, 1990.

At ADIHEX, he strolls among the stalls, eyeing hunting rifles from M16s to Saktoon models, while passersby stop to greet him or take a selfie. When asked how people recognise him, they simply say he's“an important man.” He modestly adds that he sometimes appears on local heritage shows.

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