Arabian oryx reintroduction: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:41, 16 June 2019

Revision as of 03:27, 28 September 2019

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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 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 |accessdate=2009-09-25}}</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/ |dead-url-status=yesdead |archive-date=2011-09-04 |title=Saudi Arabian "conservation programme for Arabian oryx" Web site |accessdate=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.<ref name="redlist/oryx/details">{{cite web|url={{IUCNlink|15569}} |title=IUCN Redlist (Arabian Oryx) |accessdate=2014-10-01}}</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 |dead-url-status=yesdead |archive-date=2011-09-04 |title=Historical distribution |accessdate=2009-09-25 }}</ref> In 1960, Lee 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==

'''Operation Oryx''' was a program of the Phoenix Zoo and the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society of [[London]] (now [[Fauna and Flora International]]), with financial help from the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]]. One of the first captive breeding programs at any zoo, this program had the specific goal of saving and then reintroducing Arabian oryx in the wild.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phoenixzoo.org/learn/conservation_efforts_detail.aspx?ARTICLE_ID=100321 |title=Phoenix Zoo Species Survival Plan |accessdate=2009-09-25 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716113729/http://www.phoenixzoo.org/learn/conservation_efforts_detail.aspx?ARTICLE_ID=100321 |archivedate=2011-07-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/11/15/20101115oryx-phoenix-zoo-jordan.html |title=Phoenix Zoo helped saved oryx |author=McKinnon, Shaun |date=2010-11-15 |work=[[The Arizona Republic]]|accessdate=2011-04-10}}</ref>

The initial plan of the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society was to establish a herd in [[Kenya]] where another species of oryx already lived and flourished. The Kenyan plan was dropped because of an outbreak of [[Foot-and-mouth disease|hoof-and-mouth disease]], and the oryx destined for Kenya were shipped to the Phoenix Zoo instead.<ref name="yalooni/transfer"/>

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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]].

On June 28, 2007, Oman's Arabian Oryx Sanctuary was the first site to be removed from the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage List]]. UNESCO cited the Omani government's decision to open 90% of the site to [[Hydrocarbon exploration|oil prospecting]] as the main reason for this decision. The Arabian oryx population on the site has been reduced from 450 oryx in 1996 to only 65 in 2007, mostly due to poaching and illegal live capture. There are now fewer than four breeding pairs left on the site.<ref name="UNESCO world heritage">{{cite web|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/362 |title=Oman's Arabian Oryx Sanctuary: first site ever to be deleted from UNESCO's World Heritage List |accessdate=2008-01-16 |work=UNESCO World Heritage Centre| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080118001455/http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/362| archivedate= 18 January 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurlurl-status= nolive}}</ref>

===Saudi Arabia===

Organized captive breeding of the Arabian oryx in Saudi Arabia began in April 1986, when 57 oryx from the farm of the late King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz in Ath-Thumamah (now the King Khalid Wildlife Research Center or KKWRC) were brought to the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) near [[Ta’if|At-Ta'if]].<ref name="captive/breeding/saudi">{{cite web|url=http://www.arabian-oryx.gov.sa/en/captivebreeding.html|title=Captive Breeding at the NWRC|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904062306/http://www.arabian-oryx.gov.sa/en/captivebreeding.html|archivedate=2011-09-04|deadurlurl-status=yesdead|accessdate=2009-09-25}}</ref>

Between the initial 1986 founding and 1996, 33 additional oryx (including some from the "World Herd") have been introduced to the founder generation of Arabian oryx at the NWRC. Since 1996, all additions to the population have been through births.<ref name="captive/breeding/saudi"/>

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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) |accessdate=2009-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317070403/http://www.oryxoman.com/region.html |archive-date=2009-03-17 |dead-url-status=yesdead }}</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===

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|publisher=Ministry of Information, Sultanate of Oman

|accessdate=21 June 2011

|deadurlurl-status=yesdead

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804230740/http://www.omanet.om/english/tourism/wildlife/oryx.asp?cat=tour&subcat=wild

|archivedate=4 August 2011

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|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110610030249/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198204/the.yalooni.transfer.htm

|archivedate = 2011-06-10

|deadurlurl-status = yesdead

|df =

}}</ref>