You are here Home How the Arabian oryx was brought back from extinction. There are now an estimated 1, wild oryx across the Arabian Peninsula. Updated 11 January How the Arabian oryx was brought back from extinction. January 10, Follow arabnews.
In the early s, the antelope was considered all but vanished due to hunting and poaching. Releases in this fenced area began in The IUCN formally categorizes numbers of a species that are at reproductive age. Many more are in semi-captivity.
There are about in the wild in Israel. Despite a promising start in Oman, few of the species remain in the country due to poaching. They are weaned by 4.
Arabian oryx became extinct in the wild due to hunting for their meat, hides and horns. The second world war led to an influx of automatic rifles and high speed motor vehicles to the Arabian peninsula, and this led to unsustainable levels of hunting of the oryx. By there were less than Arabian oryx left in the wild. In the s captive herds were established and several were sent to the United States where a breeding program was set up.
Today over Arabian oryx have been released into the wild, and almost all of these animals are in protected areas. The oryx are legally protected in all the countries they have been reintroduced to. In addition, there is a well managed and large breeding population of Arabian oryx in captivity, and they are listed on CITES Appendix I which means that trade in these animals or any of their parts is illegal.
However, this species remains under threat from illegal hunting, overgrazing and droughts. Home Animals. In the wild What do I eat?
Where do I live? Breeding Predators Conservation Arabian oryx mainly eat grasses and herbage, but also eat roots, tubers, bulbs and melons. The main predators of Arabian oryx are thought to be jackals, which prey on calves.
No upcoming events. Sign up for our newsletter. Get the Marwell App. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. As the hierarchy becomes established, the need to fight is reduced. Ritual displays replace actual contact, except when evenly matched individuals may have to fight to establish their rank.
Along with lateral displays, these large antelopes perform a slow, prancing walk and sometimes break into a gallop. When several males are making these displays, they may clash horns.
The nonterritorial males live in mixed groups with females, or with females and their young. Males that dominate are territorial to a degree, marking their areas with dung deposits. A female leaves the herd to give birth and hides the calf for its first two or three weeks of life, visiting a few times a day to nurse it.
The newborn is an inconspicuous brown color. The black markings begin to appear when the calf is ready to return to the herd with its mother. Calves are suckled for six to nine months and reach maturity at 18 to 24 months. Most young males migrate out of their natal group to join other groups. They typically feed in early morning and late afternoon, feasting mainly on coarse grasses and thorny shrubs.
In desert areas, they consume thick-leaved plants, wild melons, and roots and tubers they dig out of the ground. Plants collect dew, which is gradually released during the hotter parts of the day. Some plants increase their water content by 25 to 40 percent, so when oryxes feed late at night or early in the morning, they maximize both food and water sources. Originally, various oryx species were found in all of Africa's arid regions.
One species that occurred on the Arabian Peninsula was exterminated recently but has now been reintroduced into the wild from captive stock. Well-adapted to the conditions of their hot, arid habitats, these antelopes can live as long as 20 years. Kenya's Tana River divides the range of East Africa's two types of oryx: the beisa oryx Oryx gazella beisa and the fringe-eared oryx Oryx g.
The fringe-eared oryx ranges from Kenya to Central Tanzania.
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