Arabian oryx reintroduction: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Reintroduction of oryx to the wild}}

[[File:Reem-Lavan001.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Arabian oryx at Chay Bar Yotvata, Israel]]

The [[Arabian oryx]] (''Oryx leucoryx''), also called the white oryx, was [[extinct]] in the wild]] as of 1972,<ref name="arabian/oryx/oman"/> but was [[Species reintroduction|reintroduced to the wild]] starting in 1982.<ref name="yalooni/transfer"/> InitialThe initial reintroduction was primarily from two herds: the "World Herd" originally started at the [[Phoenix Zoo]] in 1963 from only nine oryx<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oryxoman.com |title=The Arabian Oryx Project (Sultanate of Oman) Web site |access-date=2009-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315062910/http://www.oryxoman.com/ |archive-date=2010-03-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the Saudi Arabian herd started in 1986 from private collections and some "World Herd" stock by the Saudi National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arabian-oryx.gov.sa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904061937/http://www.arabian-oryx.gov.sa/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-09-04 |title=Saudi Arabian "conservation programme for Arabian oryx" Web site |access-date=2009-09-25 }}</ref> As of 2009, there have been reintroductions in [[Oman]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Israel]], the [[United Arab Emirates]], and [[Jordan]], and as of 2013 the [[IUCN Red List]] classifies the species as [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]].<ref name="redlist/oryx/details">{{cite web |urllast={{IUCNlinkIUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group |15569}}date=2017 |title=IUCNOryx Redlistleucoryx (Arabian Oryx)|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15569/50191626 |access-date=2014-10-01 |website=The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017}}</ref>

==Decline of a species==

The Arabian oryx was known to be in decline since the early 1900s in the Arabian Peninsula. By the 1930, there were two separate populations isolated from each other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arabian-oryx.gov.sa/en/history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904062547/http://www.arabian-oryx.gov.sa/en/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-09-04 |title=Historical distribution |access-date=2009-09-25 }}</ref> In 1960, [[Lee M. Talbot]] reported that Arabian oryx appeared to be extinct in its former range along the southern edge of [[Rub' al Khali|Ar-Rub' al-Khali]]. He believed that any oryx still existing would be exterminated within the next few years and recommended that a captive breeding program be started to save the species.<ref name="lee/talbot">Talbot, Lee: ''A Look at Threatened Species''. Fauna and Flora Preservation Society, 1960.</ref> Michael Crouch, then Assistant Adviser in the Eastern [[Aden Protectorate]], drew attention to the fact that each spring, small groups of oryx still emerged onto the gravel plains in the northeast corner of the [[Protectorate]], where he thought a capture attempt would be possible.

==Operation Oryx==

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There were originally four individuals captured and seven donated for this project. The four were captured in [[Aden]] (now Yemen) near the border of Oman by an expedition led by the late Major Ian Grimwood, then chief [[game warden]] of Kenya, with help from Manahil and Mahra tribesmen. One male from this group later died of capture stress.<ref name="arabian/oryx/timeline" /> The seven donated oryx were: one from the [[London Zoo]], two from [[Sheikh]] Jaber Abdullah al-Sabah, and two pairs from the collection of [[Saud of Saudi Arabia|King Saud bin Abdul Aziz]]. One of the oryx from Sheikh Jaber Abdullah al-Sabah died before delivery as well, leaving nine oryx to start the "World Herd."

Five Arabian oryx were delivered to the Phoenix Zoo in 1963 (four in June and one in September). A baby was born to the herd in October 1963 from a conception en route, and another was born in spring 1964, bringing the starting population of the Phoenix Zoo herd to seven. The four oryx donated by King Saud arrived at the Phoenix Zoo in July 1964, bringing the population of the "World Herd" to 11.<ref name="colin/tudge">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lastanimalsatzoo00tudg|url-access=registration|title=Last Animals at the Zoo|last=Tudge|first=Colin|publisher=Island Press|year=1992|isbn=1-55963-158-9|___location=Washington, D.C., Covelo, CA|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lastanimalsatzoo00tudg/page/126 126], 127|access-date=2009-10-06}}</ref>

The breeding program at the Phoenix Zoo was very successful, and the zoo celebrated its 225th Arabian oryx birth in 2002. From [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], individuals were sent to other zoos and parks (including the San Diego Wild Animal Park) to start their herds. Most of the Arabian oryx in the wild today have ancestors from the Phoenix Zoo.<ref>{{cite news| title=Arizona Zoo Saves Rare Antelope From Extinction |author=Lopez, Larry | date=1980-05-31 |publisher=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

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===Oman===

By 1980, the number of Arabian oryx in captivity had increased to the point that reintroduction to Oman was attempted from the [[San Diego Zoo Safari Park|San Diego Wild Animal Park]] to Jaaluni in the [[Jiddat al-Harasis]]. The oryx were initially kept in large pens outdoors, but were released to the wild on January 31, 1982, in the Omani Central Desert and Coastal Hills.<ref name="yalooni/transfer"/>

These oryx became the core of the Oman herd in the wild, though there were several other releases of captive bred animals over the next two decades.<ref name="arabian/oryx/timeline"/> The area of their release became the [[Arabian Oryx Sanctuary]].

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===Israel===

In Israel the reintroduction program was established in 1978 when four pairs of Arabian oryx were purchased.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} At this time the IUCN Redbook reported wild populations totaling 90–100 animals in three locations in Northern [[ArabahAravah|Arava]] and the [[Negev]] Desert. As of 2014 there are around 130 animals in the [[Aravah]], and in 2013 they began to spread to the central Negev and the population keeps increasing. In addition to the natural population increase, every year around six animals are released to the wild in Israel. [[Israel]] is the only country in which the Arabian oryx was reintroduced where [[poaching]] prohibition can be enforced, and because of this the Israeli population grows annually. Apart from the wild oryx population in Israel, there are a few dozen oryx in the [[Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve]], a few breeding couples in the [[Jerusalem Biblical Zoo]] and a small herd in the [[Ramat Gan Safari]]. The reintroduction of oryx in Israel is one of a few successful programs reintroducing animals into nature in Israel; others include the introduction of the [[Persian onager]] (a proxy for the extinct Syrian onager), and the very successful reintroduction of [[Persian fallow deer]].<ref name="redlist/oryx/details"/>

===United Arab Emirates===

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}}</ref>

==Impact==

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{{update-section|date=August 2023}}

In 1986, as a result of the reintroduction efforts, the IUCN re-listed the Arabian oryx from extinct in the wild to endangered. By 2009, the Arabian oryx was protected by law in all areas where it appears.

In June 2011, the Arabian oryx was re-listed as vulnerable by the [[IUCN Red List]]. The IUCN estimates there are more than 1000 Arabian oryx in the wild, with 6000–7000 held in captivity worldwide in zoos, preserves, and private collections. Some of these are in large fenced enclosures (free-roaming), including those in Syria (Al Talila), Bahrain, Qatar, and UAE.<ref name="iucn"/> This is the first time the IUCN has re-classified a species as vulnerable after it had been listed as extinct in the wild.<ref name="sci_am_2011-06"/> The Arabian oryx is also listed in [[CITES]] Appendix I.<ref name="cites_appendix"/>

==Notes==

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[[Category:Wildlife conservation]]

[[Category:Conservation-reliant species]]

[[Category:Nature conservation in Oman]]

[[Category:Nature conservation in Jordan]]

[[Category:Nature conservation in the United Arab Emirates]]

[[Category:Nature conservation in Israel]]