THE UAE SENDS SCIMITAR-HORNED ORYXES AND ADDAXES TO CHAD
▶ Environment Agency Abu Dhabi continues to rebuild populations of endangered antelopes
Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has moved 25 scimitar-horned oryxes and 25 addax antelopes to Chad.
It plans to send another 25 oryxes to central Africa in February, and all of the animals will be released into the wild.
The mission is part of one of the world’s largest reintroduction programmes.
It was launched in 2014 to create a self-sustaining herd of more than 500 scimitar-horned oryxes in the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Wildlife Reserve, which covers 77,950 square kilometres.
In 2000, the species was declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The first of the oryxes to be relocated were released into the wild in 2016 and they are reported to have adapted to their surroundings.
In 2017, a herd of 75 scimitar-horned oryxes arrived in an operation led by Chad’s Ministry of Environment and Fisheries
and the Sahara Conservation Fund.
This year, 60 calves were born, bringing the number of the oryxes in the wild to about 400.
This particular breed can survive for months without drinking water.
A grazing animal, it derives most of its daily moisture intake from plants.
A second phase of the programme involves the critically endangered addax.
The antelope is very well adapted to living in the arid Sahara, and rarely needs to drink water to survive.
Its horns, meat and hide make it attractive to poachers, and the animal’s population has plummeted in the past century.
The first group, 15 animals, was reintroduced in 2019, followed by 25 in 2020. Fifteen calves were born this year.
“We will always continue the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed, who pioneered the scimitar-horned oryxes reintroduction programme, the first of its kind in the world,” said Dr Shaikha Al Dhaheri, Secretary
General of Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
“It is saddening to see species becoming extinct and we at EAD will do everything in our capacity to reverse this,” she said.
The agency has fitted 18 wild scimitar-horned oryxes with satellite tracking collars. These enabled the agency to monitor the species’ behaviour, including their reproduction.
“Next month, we will be releasing both scimitar-horned oryxes and addaxes in Chad in collaboration with our partners, who are truly invested in ensuring the project’s success, and we are on track to establish a herd of 500 of the oryxes in the wild,” Dr Al Dhaheri said.
“Our efforts will continue next year, and we are expecting the birth of more calves, which will help to increase herd sizes and curb the rapid decline of these species.”
Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, first noticed the rapid decline of scimitar-horned oryxes in the wild during the 1960s.
He ordered the creation of a captive breeding programme to be piloted in the UAE.
The animals were housed on Sir Bani Yas Island, where their number then grew to exceed 1,000.
Conservation of the species is supported by several partners, including Chad’s Ministry of
Environment, the EU, the Sahara Conservation Fund, the Zoological Society of London, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Marwell Wildlife in England, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, and Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute and Fossil Rim Wildlife Centre, both in the US.