Arabian oryx reintroduction: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:26, 12 November 2021

Revision as of 19:01, 18 December 2021

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[[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"/> 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|url={{IUCNlink|15569}} |title=IUCN Redlist (Arabian Oryx) |access-date=2014-10-01}}</ref>

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Reintroduction of a wild population began in 1995 in the [['Uruq Bani Ma'arid|'Uruq Bani Ma'arid Protected Area]]. The reserve covers about {{convert|12000|km2|abbr=on}} at the western edge of the [[Rub' al Khali|Rubʿ al-Khali]] desert or "Empty Quarter". As of 2009, the IUCN Red List estimates the oryx population on this reserve at 160 individuals.<ref name="redlist/oryx/details"/>

A free ranging herd was established in the newly created [[Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area]] in 1989. This {{convert|2244|km2|abbr=on}} fenced reserve is home to reintroduced oryx, [[gazelle]] and the [[houbara bustard]].<ref name="arabian/oryx/project/regional">{{cite web |url=http://www.oryxoman.com/region.html |title=The Arabian Oryx Project (regional) |access-date=2009-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317070403/http://www.oryxoman.com/region.html |archive-date=2009-03-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As of 2009, the IUCN Red List estimates the oryx population on this reserve at about 800 individuals. There is currently some debate about whether animals in this reserve should be considered "wild."<ref name="redlist/oryx/details"/>

===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 [[Arabah|Arava]] and the [[Negev]] Desert. As of 2014 there are 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===