Abu dhabi celebrates world’s largest mammal reintroduction

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) continues to progress with the world’s largest mammal reintroduction programme. During last March the Agency has successfully translocated 20 Scimitar-Horned Oryx (SHO) and 25 Addax to Chad’s Ouadi Rime-Ouadi Achim Game Reserve.

Currently, there are 460 Scimitar-Horned Oryx in the wild, with 15 calves born so far this year, as well as 96 wild Addax, with 5 calves born to the herd, also this year, a press release said.

Furthermore, for the first time ever EAD successfully translocated five Dama Gazelle on March 14, which have joined the herd of other captured wild Dama Gazelle in the Agency programme.

As part of the monitoring programme for the animals, EAD successfully darted seven wild animals - six SHO and one Addax - and fitted them with satellite tracking collars, enabling close monitoring to witness survival and reproduction.

Dr Shaikha Salem al Dhaheri, secretary general of EAD, said, "This pioneering project was inspired by the insightful vision of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, who noticed that SHO numbers were declining rapidly and wished to see them flourish once again. Today we are seeing continued success thanks to the support of our wise leadership through the regular translocation of both breeds to their natural habitat in Chad. Both herds of animals are now thriving very well in their natural habitats.”

She added, “We are currently very close to achieving our goal of having a herd of 500 SHO in Chad and, due to the success of this project, we are aiming to go beyond this figure and ensure that the numbers in the wild increase even further. We are working closely with the government of Chad to also reintroduce Addax and Dama Gazelles, and in time we will witness increased numbers of these species, hopefully paving the way for their removal from the extinction list.”