Conservation efforts to boost the Arabian Oryx population in the UAE received new legs – literally – this week, after help from the United States.
The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi’s Arabian Oryx Breeding Programme took possession of 40 new Arabian Oryx, which were flown in from America as part of a plan to bolster numbers of the graceful animals.
The newly arrived Oryx are to become part of the agency’s Arabian Oryx Breeding and Reintroduction Project and are currently being housed in the Delaika Conservation and Breeding facility in Abu Dhabi.
The 15 males and 25 females will be bred with the native Oryx that are already residing in the facility in order to strengthen the gene pool for a healthier, more resilient and diverse population.
Providing genetic diversity within the Oryx population is critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the population, once it is re-introduced into the wild. A larger and stronger gene pool will provide the animals with better immunity and chances at survival once they are released.
“By introducing this new herd into our breeding programme, we will now further safeguard our Arabian Oryx population against the negative impacts of long-term inbreeding. Once the breeding process is successful, we aim to release a number of these Oryx back into the wild,” said Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, executive director, Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity Sector at Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD).
Arabian Oryx became extinct in the wild in the early 1970’s. After noticing the alarming decline in wild herds of Arabian Oryx, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan intervened and the country began conservation efforts and saved the species from extinction. The UAE is now home to the largest population of Arabian Oryx in the world, with numbers totalling 4,000 throughout the country.
The EAD’s breeding and reintroduction project was established in 2010 and is home to 5,000 animals and includes three species: Arabian Oryx, Mountain Gazelles and Sand Gazelles. Abu Dhabi is currently home to 3,000 Arabian Oryx.
