Arabian oryx reintroduction
[4] 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.
[6] In 1960, Lee M. Talbot reported that Arabian oryx appeared to be extinct in its former range along the southern edge of 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.
[8][9] 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 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.
[10] The seven donated oryx were: one from the London Zoo, two from Sheikh Jaber Abdullah al-Sabah, and two pairs from the collection of King Saud bin Abdul Aziz.
At this time, populations in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan are still not considered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List wild oryx count.
[5] By 1980 the number of Arabian oryx in captivity had increased to the point that reintroduction to Oman was attempted from the 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.
[13] 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 King Khalid Wildlife Research Center were brought to the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) near At-Ta'if.
[citation needed] At this time the IUCN Redbook reported wild populations totaling 90–100 animals in three locations in Northern Arava and the Negev Desert.
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.
[15] In 2012, GSCAO carried out an Arabian Oryx Disease Survey which was funded by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), in the range states.
[17][18] The reintroduction project for Jordan began when the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the Al Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority signed a sponsorship agreement in April 2007.
Under this agreement, EAD is sponsoring the million three-year project which includes reintroduction of the Arabian oryx into the Wadi Rum Protected Area, rehabilitating the habitat, and helping local residents to improve their living standards.
