History

Countries of origin of the Sloughi
by Dr. Dominique de Caprona
© de Caprona 2009

The Sloughi is the indigenous Sighthound of the North African Maghreb region: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
There are two very important topographical features in North Africa. 
One is the Atlas mountains extending along the Mediterranean coast from Morocco, through Algeria and Tunisia. 
To the West and the East of the Atlas mountain range (Libya), it slowly becomes a steppe landscape that leads into the sands of the Sahara.
The other is the great Sahara Desert, which occupies 90% of the region's land area (a large part of Algeria).

When discussing the relationships between Sloughi, Afghan Hound (Afghanistan is right of Iran), Azawakh, Saluki, Tazi and Taigan, it is important to keep in mind the geographical distances involved between the countries of origin of these breeds. These distances can easily result in Genetic Drift which modifies the genotypes of these populations of dogs over time and separates them genetically from one another.