Several of the world's top conservation experts gather in Al Ain this week to develop a conservation road map for the Scimitar-horned Oryx, now believed to be extinct in the wild.
Specialists from the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (AWPR) will be joined by ecologists from more than 15 world's top conservation organisations and research institutes, including the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Oxford.
"They will attempt to guarantee the long-term survival of the animal in captivity as well as establish herds in the wild once more,β said Dr Mike Maunder, Chief Collection, Conservation and Education Officer at AWPR.
Native to North Africa, the animal once ranged across the grasslands from Morocco and Tunisia to Egypt and south to Mauritania and Sudan. It has been hunted for meat and as sporting trophies and has had to compete with livestock for food even as it faced a fragmentation of its habitat due to agricultural development.
The animal currently only survives in zoos and captive breeding institutions such as AWPR. "Both the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) and AWPR hold globally important herds of the Scimitar-horned Oryx. The future of this species is dependent upon international co-operation with breeding institutions such as those here in Abu Dhabi, working with scientists all over the world and most importantly, working with the range nations in North Africa where the herds will be re-established,β said Maunder.
Thirty-five participants are attending the four-day summit, including the UAE, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia, United Kingdom, and the United States.
The UAE is home to around 40 per cent of the 5,000 Scimitar-horned Oryxes left in the world and Maunder hopes its experience with the Arabian Oryx will serve to create a template of sorts.
Maunder was unable to provide an idea of how much such a project might cost. "That's one of the things we are calculating at the event,β he said.
The EAD is now working with Niger to reintroduce the animal into the wild, said Maunder. "It's not a one-off process. Usually, reintroduction is a sustained operation lasting between 10 or 20 years before it is successful.β
AWPR's herd of Scimitar-horned Oryx will participate in re-introductions of the species. The AWPR is home to 4,300 animals, 30 per cent of which are considered to be endangered. β Emirates Business 24|7
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