Thanks to conservation efforts conducted by conservation zoos and several organizations, a rare antelope species scimitar horned oryx has been given a new life in the wild.
The scimitar horned oryx once roamed the African desserts, but its numbers started to dwindle in the 1980s. Humans hunted them due to their meat and horns, while several environmental factors also played a part. In 2000, the species was officially listed as “extinct in the wild,” meaning it only existed in captivity.
The government of Chad and the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) teamed up with a number of conservation zoos in recent years to breed scimitar-horned oryx and increase their numbers. Their efforts resulted in a herd of 600 specimens being re-introduced to the wild and finding their home in Chad’s Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve.
As announced by Whipsnade Zoo in the United Kingdom, the scimitar horned oryx has now been downlisted from “extinct in the wild” to “endangered,” representing a massive success in its conservation efforts. There are now plans to re-introduce the species to other parts of Africa, including Tunisia and Sudan.
“The change in status… is a testament to the power of collaborative conservation action, and gives us all hope that we are able to make a real difference and restore nature,” said Dr Tania Gilbert, head of conservation science at Marwell Wildlife Zoo, one of the conservation zoos taking part in the project.
