Content deleted Content added
m Dating maintenance tags: {{Update-section}} |
Lolapossum (talk | contribs) m Previous a bit too vague Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
| (6 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{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
==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==
Line 15 ⟶ 16:
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
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>
Line 25 ⟶ 26:
===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]].
Line 45 ⟶ 46:
===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 [[
===United Arab Emirates===
| |||