Morocco's Scorpion Problem

For over twenty years Morocco has been tackling the problem of scorpions in the south of the country. The recent death of a young boy from the village of Tamri, 30 kilometres from Agadir, highlights the need for ongoing education and a quicker medical response

In the latest incident the boy's father called for an ambulance but was told it did not have enough petrol for the journey. Eventually the father raised the money for fuel but on arrival at the hospital Hassan II in Agadir, some reports claim that admission was delayed because of a lack of the father's ID.

Whatever the truth, the boy died. According to health officials there are around 30,000 scorpion bites reported each year with a third of them in the Marrakech region. Over 80% of the bites occur inside houses at night between May and September.

In nine out of ten cases the bites are only mild as of the 30 species of scorpions found in Morocco, only one can cause fatalities. Statistics suggest that out of some 3,000 bites this year, 500 have required intensive care treatment.

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Scorpions in Morocco - Update

Androctonus mauritanicus (Pocock, 1902)

Scorpion's are not everyone's favourite pets and certainly not on the invitation list for an outdoor picnic. They are a subject of great interest to scientists and yet the Moroccan scorpion population and distribution has not been the subject of intensive research until now. So it was with some excitement that we (who find scorpions fascinating) discovered that research has been recently completed in the Sidi Ifni province in Morocco.

 Androctonus mauritanicus

 Butheoloides littorali

 Buthus elmoutaouakili

 Hottentota gentili

Scorpio mogadorensis

Researchers, Oulaid Touloun (who took the photographs above) and Ali Boumezzough, have studied the scorpion fauna of the province of Sidi Ifni and have reported on five species, all native to Morocco.

What is even more interesting is the discovery in 2011 of the Butheoloides (Butheoloides) littoralis by Lourenço, Touloun and Boumezzough.

Here is a short abstract from their paper on the subject:  

Our investigations in the Sidi Ifni province has allowed to us to inventory five species of scorpions, all of them endemic from Morocco. The family Buthidae is represented by four species Androctonus mauritanicus (Pocock, 1902), Butheoloides (Butheoloides) littoralis Lourenço, Touloun & Boumezzough, 2011, Buthus elmoutaouakili Lourenço & Qi, 2006,Hottentota gentili (Pallary, 1924), that of Scorpionidae is represented by a single species Scorpio mogadorensis (Birula, 1910). This work has also helped to complete the distribution areas of some of these species.

The full text of this interesting paper by Touloun and Boumezzough is available free as a PDF download here:

Morocco counts more than 30 kinds of (in layman's terms) yellow and black scorpions. And, a word of warning, the black ones are deadly.

How deadly?  Well according to some rather dated figures from CAPM (Centre Antipoison et de Pharmacologie du Maroc), 91 people died in 2006 due to scorpion stings, compared to 98 in 2005 and 93 in 2004. Scorpion stings are also the primary cause of 50 to 60 % of intoxication cases documented in Morocco, said Ghizlane El Oufir a doctor with CAPM . He was speaking at an awareness-raising day to control scorpion stings on Argan tree farms.

Children under 15 make up 95 % of deaths, she explained, noting that four out of 1,000 die of scorpion stings. Scorpion stings are a grave and recurrent problem, especially in the province of Essaouira, where they represent 4.6% of all scorpion-related incidents reported in Morocco. Scorpions claimed the lives of 528 people between 2001 and 2006.

 A brave photo of Hottentota gentili taken in the lower Draa Valley by Michel Aymerich 

For those interested to dig deeper, we recomend you take a look at the website Geres

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Scorpion stings in Morocco

Recently we published a story on snakebites in Morocco and had several emails asking about scorpions and whether they were a problem. The answer is a big YES.

According to figures from the Moroccan Centre national antipoison et de pharmacovigilance (CAPM) (poisons and drug monitoring center) scorpion stings kill about 100 under 15s every year, in a total of some 30,000 cases of scorpion poisoning documented yearly in Morocco. There is a particular danger between July and August each year. It should also be noted that over 60 percent of stings are at night.

To stem this scourge, a nationwide campaign themed "Together Save our Children from Death from Scorpion Stings," was launched on Friday in the city of Essaouira. It is aiming at reducing the mortality rateby 30%.

Initiated by the CAPM, the campaign will be carried out under the aegis of the Health Ministry, in collaboration with the Province of Essaouira, the Mohammed VI Foundation for Research and the Protection of Argan Trees, and NGOs. Essaouira is the area that produces 4.6% of all scorpion-related incidents reported in Morocco. Scorpions claimed the lives of 528 people between 2001 and 2006.

Speaking on the occasion, king’s advisor and chairman of the Foundation, André Azoulay, stressed the need to fight scorpion stings in the city.

According to figures of the CAPM, 91 people died in 2006 of scorpion stings, compared to 98 in 2005 and 93 in 2004. Scorpion stings are the primary cause of 50 to 60 % of documented poisoning cases in Morocco.

Morocco has more than 30 kinds of yellow and black scorpions. The latter remain the most dangerous, according to CAPM. There is an interesting abstract here: scorpions.

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news

Scorpions in Morocco

Here is a quick test. How many different types of scorpion do you think are native to Morocco?

Well, the number certainly surpised me - Morocco counts more than 30 kinds of yellow and black scorpions. And, a word of warning, the black ones are deadly.

How deadly? Well according to the latest figures from CAPM (Centre Antipoison et de Pharmacologie du Maroc), 91 people died in 2006 due to scorpion stings, compared to 98 in 2005 and 93 in 2004.

Scorpion stings are alsothe primary cause of 50 to 60 % of intoxication cases being documented in Morocco, said Ghizlane El Oufir a doctor with CAPM . He was speaking at an awareness-raising day to control scorpion stings in Argan tree farms.

Children under 15 make up 95 % of deaths, she explained, noting that 4 out of 1,000 die of scorpion stings.

Scorpion stings are a grave and recurrent problem, especially in the province of Essaouira, where they represents 4.6% of all scorpion-related incidents reported in Morocco. Scorpions claimed the lives of 528 people between 2001 and 2006.

So, if you are in the Essaouira area we suggest don't go looking under rocks.



Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news