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One
of the greatest success stories of saving an animal from
the brink of extinction is that of the Arabian Oryx. I
always think that by now surely everyone knows about
this graceful animal and its amazing history but to my
surprise I often meet people who will ask: “An Oryx,
what kind of animal is that?”
The Arabian Oryx
(Oryx leucoryx) is a large antelope that crossed
over to the Arabian Peninsula from Africa at the time
when the two landmasses were still connected. There are
several species of Oryx in Africa that have strong
similarities to our local species but none are as well
adapted to the harsh conditions of the desert. The
Arabian Oryx, locally called “al maha” or “lbaqr al
wahsh”, is large in size, reaching 1.50 m at the
shoulder. Both, males and females, carry long tapering
horns that are slightly curved and end in a very sharp
point. When seen in profile, the two horns merge and the
animal seems to carry only one horn. This accounts for
the myth of the unicorn, animal of legends, that is
depicted in many Medieval books and on old tapestries.
The fur on the body is pure white, while the legs and
face markings are black in the winter and grayish in the
summer. The shiny white fur reflects the sunlight away
from the body and is made up of hollow hairs that act as
further insulation against the heat. Underneath, the
skin is black so that the harmful ultraviolet rays of
the sun cannot penetrate it. A thick fatty layer comes
next – again insulation against the heat. The Oryx can
allow its body temperature to go up higher than most
mammals – up to 40ºC – without problems. Their kidneys
have evolved to recycle their urine in order to preserve
body fluids and their pellets are quite small and very
dry, consisting of just indigestible plant fibbers. They
have wide hooves that do not sink into the sand of the
dunes, enabling them to travel fast and easy on the
loose sands.
The Oryx prefers
to live on the gravel plains and wadi outflows (ramlat)
at the edge of the sand dunes, where there are plenty of
shade trees. Here they roam in small herds of 10 to 15
animals, led by a dominant female. In dry times, they
seek out the gullies where water drains from the
mountains. And if they are disturbed they retire into
the solitude and barrenness of the great red-and-silver
dunes.
They need very
little water apart from the moisture in the plants and
that of the early morning dew. They feed on “nussi” (Aristida
plumosa), the yellow-flowered “alqa” (Dipterygium
glaucum) and “sabat” (Asthenatum forsskahli).
In particular they love “zahra” (Tribulus arabicus)
– a beautiful yellow-flowered shrub that should in my
opinion be the national flower of the UAE. They also dig
for roots with their strong hooves, enjoying the
succulence of “tartuth” – the red thumb (Cynomorium
coccineum) and “thanun” – the desert hyacinth (Cistanche
spp.). And if nothing else is available they will
even eat the bitter fruits of the desert squash,
“sherry” (Citrullus colocynthis).
For many
centuries the Oryx lived a peaceful life in the solitude
of the great deserts. If some beduin managed to capture
an animal for food, this did not deplete their numbers
to any great extent. The few that were killed were
replaced each year by the fawn-coloured young that were
born after the females had been pregnant for eight
months. They had no enemies to fear for the leopard
lived in the mountains and the wolf and caracal could be
easily handled by the antelopes’ sharp horns and strong
hooves.
In the middle of
last century things began to go bad for the Arabian
Oryx. Firearms became available, and cars, and when the
combination of the 4WD and machineguns came into being,
the Oryx were doomed. Hunting parties chased them far
into their former safe haven, the high dunes of the Rub’
al Khali. By the early nineteen sixties only a few small
herds still lived on the southern edge of the Empty
Quarter, at Ramlat Shuwait. Then an expedition came from
Qatar and killed 48 animals in one hunting trip and
another 13 the next year. Only a handful of antelopes
remained.
Some wildlife
conservationists, who had already been concerned at what
was happening, now became panicky. A rescue operation
was set up within a few months and in 1964 four Oryx
were captured in south Yemen. They were first taken to
the Hadhrami Beduin Legion fort, where a RAF transport
plane flew them to Aden. There another plane took them
to Kenya. There they had to wait for a few days before
being transported to Italy for quarantine. Because the
temperature in Nairobi was very low, the animals had to
be kept warm and a private company dealing in electrical
appliances brought all the electric ovens from their
showroom to the holding sheds of the antelopes to help
out.
Other Oryx were
found in private collections: one female Oryx was
donated by London zoo, two females by Sheikh Jaber
Abdullah Al Sabah in Kuwait and two pairs by King Saud
bin Abdul Aziz in Saudi Arabia.
They were
transported and crated by Aramco, flown out on a special
Pan-Am charter and quarantined at the expense of the
Director of the Naples Zoo in Italy, together with the
wild caught animals. Then all of them were flown to the
United States, expenses paid by the World Wildlife Fund
and many animal lovers, both private and organized in
clubs. The Zoological Society of Arizona offered the
facilities at the Phoenix zoo for the benefit of the
small herd.
So many people
and institutions from so many different countries were
involved in the rescue that it was proper that from then
on the small group was called the “world herd”.
The favourable
desert climate helped them to settle down quickly and
prosper. However, even then the problem of their
conservation was not yet solved. The two females from
Kuwait, being old, died very soon and the first seven
young that were born were all males. In the end the law
of averages won and some female babies were born. In
time the herd grew to over 200 animals and in 1982 and
1984 small herds were brought back to Oman, where they
were released in their native habitat in the wilds of
the Wahiba sands near Yaluuni. At first, they were
released in large fenced areas, and only after a long
period of adaptation were they let out into the
surrounding gravel plains.
The Harassi
tribesmen who used to hunt them in that area, were now
instructed and paid to be their game wardens. The
animals were fitted with tracking devices and their
movements were followed accurately. After the dry years
of 1987 and 1988, when food became scarce, the released
animals came back to the station where they had been
acclimatized to their new area and allowed themselves to
receive supplementary food. The herds multiplied
continuously, until there was a period of severe
poaching in the early nineteen nineties. When the number
of free roaming females became dangerously low due to
this illegal activity, the remaining few dozen were
captured and gathered within the fenced area again to
recuperate. This measure turned out to be successful,
the poaching activities were controlled and the Yaluuni
herds are on the rebound again.
Other groups of
Oryx were successfully released in Jordan and later in
Saudi Arabia.
There were also
still several groups that thrived in captivity. Al Ain
zoo, which started with 4 wild caught Oryx and 14
animals from private collections, had herds of more than
200 animals at one time. In the gardens of many of the
local sheikhs small groups did well and multiplied.
Recently the Maha
resort in Dubai started its environment conservation
project with the protection of various local species of
gazelles and the Oryx on a five square kilometer piece
of rolling sand dunes. Since then its area has been
extended to some 225 square kilometer and the Oryx herds
in this tourist safari park now number 220.
Other herds that
are accessible for viewing are at the Sharjah Desert
Park and on Sir Bani Yas Island as well as in various
zoos in Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The story of the
Arabian Oryx is one with a happy ending – a story that
has brought joy to all of the many people involved in
the rescue. Now it is possible to see the beautiful
legendary animal roam on many of the gravel plains of
the Middle East, back in the wild where they belong,
while others can be admired in zoos and desert parks in
many countries in the world. | 
