Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T02:36:32.287Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Arabian oryx reintroduction in Oman: successes and setbacks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

J. A. Spalton ,
M. W. Lawerence  and
S. A. Brend
M. W. Lawerence
Affiliation:
12 Albert Road, Bexley, Kent DA5 1NN, UK.
S. A. Brend
Affiliation:
International Primate Protection League, 116 Judd St, London WC1H 9NS, UK.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The return of the Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx to Oman symbolized the success of a new approach to species conservation and established reintroduction as a conservation tool. Ten years after the species had been exterminated in the wild by poaching, the first 10 founder oryx, descendants of the ′World Herd′, were reintroduced to the desert in central Oman in January 1982. A second release followed in 1984 and the population grew slowly through a 3-year drought that was broken by rain in June 1986. Further years of good rainfall and more founders meant that by April 1990 there were over 100 oryx in the wild, independent of supplementary feed and water, and using a range of over 11,000 sq km. At that time a new monitoring programme was implemented that allowed the transition from individual- to population-based monitoring and management. The population continued to grow and by October 1995 numbered approximately 280 in the wild (of which 22 were surviving founders) and used over 16,000 sq km of the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary. However, in February 1996 poaching resumed and oryx were captured for sale as live animals outside the country. Despite the poaching the population continued to increase and by October 1996 was estimated to be just over 400. However, poaching intensified and continued through late 1996 and 1997. By September 1998 it had reduced the wild population to an estimated 138 animals, of which just 28 were females. The wild population was no longer considered viable and action was taken to rescue some of the remaining animals from the wild to form a captive herd.

Keywords

Arabian oryxOmanOryx leucoryxpoachingreintroduction
Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 168 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1999

References

Beck, B.B., Rapaport, L.G., Stanley Price, M.R. & Wilson, A.C. (1994) Reintroduction of captive-born animals. In Creative Conservation: Interactive Management of Wild and Captive Animals (eds Olney, P. J. S., Mace, G. M. and Feistner, A. T. C.), pp. 287–303. Chapman & Hall, London.Google Scholar
Corp, N., Spalton, A. & Gorman, M.L. (1998) The influence of rainfall on range in a female desert ungulate: the Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx in the Sultanate of Oman. journal of Zoology, London, 246, 369–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, A. & Jones, D. (eds) (1988) Conservation and Biology of Desert Antelopes. Christopher Helm, London.Google Scholar
Fisher, M. & Membery, D.A. (1998) Climate. In Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula (eds Ghazanfar, S. A. and Fisher, M.), pp. 5–38. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimwood, I.R. (1962) Operation Oryx. Oryx, 6, 308–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, D.S. (1974) The Arabian oryx: a desert tragedy. National Parks and Conservation Magazine, 48(5), 15–21.Google Scholar
Jungius, H. (1985) The Arabian oryx: its distribution and former habitat in Oman and its reintroduction. Journal of Oman Studies, 8, 49–64.Google Scholar
Kleiman, D.G., Stanley Price, M.R. & Beck, B.B. (1994) Criteria for reintroductions. In Creative Conservation: Interactive Management of Wild and Captive Animals (eds Olney, P. J. S., Mace, G. M. and Feistner, A. T. C.), pp. 287–303. Chapman & Hall, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krebs, C.J. (1989) Ecological Methodology. Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Marshall, T.C. (1998) Inbreeding and fitness in wild ungulates. PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Nottrott, R. (1986) RANGE (Range Analysis Program) User's Guide and Manual. Office of the Adviser for Conservation of the Environment, Muscat, Oman.Google Scholar
Ostrowski, S., Bedin, E., Lenain, D. & Abuzinada, A.H. (1998) Ten years of Arabian oryx conservation breeding in Saudia Arabia – achievements and regional perspectives. Oryx, 32(3), 209–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spalton, J.A. (1992) The Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) re-introduction project in Oman: 10 years on. In Ungulates 91 (eds Spitz, F., Janeau, G., Gonzalez, G. and Aulagnier, S.), pp. 342–347. SFEPM, Paris.Google Scholar
Spalton, J.A. (1993) A brief history of the reintroduction of the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) into Oman 1980–1992. International Zoo Yearbook, 32, 81–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spalton, J.A. (1995) Effects of rainfall on the reproduction and mortality of the Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx (Pallas) in the Sultanate of Oman. PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen.Google Scholar
Spalton, J. A. (1999) The food supply of Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) in the desert of Oman. Journal of Zoology, London, 247, in press.Google Scholar
Stanley Price, M.R. (1989) Animal Reintroductions: The Arabian Oryx in Oman. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar