ARABIAN ORYX

Native to the desert and steppe areas of the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring parts of the Middle East, the Arabian oryx became extinct in the wild in the 1970s as a result of several decades of overhunting. Recognizing that it would soon be gone in 1962 the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society of London (now Fauna and Flora International), working in conjunction with the Phoenix Zoo and aided by financial help from the World Wildlife Fund, began Operation Oryx to save the species. Starting with just nine animals they initiated the first captive-breeding herd at the Phoenix Zoo which through careful management aimed at maximizing what limited genetic diversity existed within the tiny population saw it increase into a few hundred individuals spread among numerous zoos and private institutions. By 1980 it was reintroduced back into the wild where it now numbers about a thousand spread among several countries on the peninsula. The captive population has continued to increase and now numbers about 6000 to 7000.

I worked for the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society in the late 1960s analyzing data on the world’s list of endangered species at that time so this is a subject dear to my heart though I was not at all involved in Operation Oryx. The Society’s journal was and still is called the Oryx. This is a composite photo consisting of an Arabian oryx at the Phoenix Zoo coupled with a pic of a desert background scene in the Middle East.

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