The Desert Kites of the Near East and the size of past ungulate herds

The desert kites (ancient large stone-constructed features, shaped like funnels) are known in the Near East for about a Century now. There are thousands of them in hyper-arid settings, commonly interpreted as game traps. If there are so many traps, many of them large and constructed as continuous chains, then one should ask what animals were targeted? Indeed, what do we know about past wild ungulate herds in the current deserts? When and why did they become extinct or almost extinct?  Was the use of desert kites associated in any way with the domestication of farm animals? The talk addresses teh suggested association of desert kites and past unfulate herds in teh arid expanses of the area and reconstructs teh use of hte kites and ecological parameters of hte target herds by using archaeological data and eye-witness accounts.