Antelope revived in Sahara years after going extinct in the wild

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By Alice Klein

They’re back. Scimitar-horned oryx have been reintroduced to the wild after a two-decade absence and are flourishing in their old stomping grounds.

The desert antelopes were once widespread across northern Africa, but were hunted to extinction in their natural habitat in the 1990s.

Since then, the species has been kept alive in captivity in the United Arab Emirates, the US, Europe and Australia. Several hundred have also been reintroduced to fenced areas in northern Africa.

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To test whether scimitar-horned oryx could survive in the wild once again, 23 individuals were released into a remote part of Chad last August. Based on early signs of success, another 23 will be released this week.

First scimitar-horned oryx born in the wild for decades

Sahara Conservation Fund

The animals have been fitted with GPS collars to monitor their movements. “So far, the animals look exceptionally healthy,” says Jared Stabach from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC, who is involved in the project. “They seem to be adapting to the environment really well.”

First baby in the wild

Some of the released oryx were pregnant and, in September, the first calf was born in the wild since the species went extinct. “He seems very lively and healthy, so that’s encouraging,” says Stabach.

The next test will be whether females that became pregnant after release will produce healthy offspring, he says. “We’re expecting some births in the next month or two.”

The oryx were reintroduced in the Ouadi-Rimé Ouadi-Achim reserve, an expansive of unfenced wilderness in central Chad, which used to be the species’ stronghold.

A group of about 40 to 50 of the antelopes were rescued from this area in the 1960s. Most oryx alive today are thought to be descended from these animals.

Fewer threats

Although the newly released oryx all come from this small population, their genetic diversity has risen because separate captive populations were kept around the world. This has allowed them to genetically drift apart from one another.

Reintroducing oryx to the wild is less challenging than doing so with many other animals, says Carolyn Hogg at the University of Sydney, Australia. One reason is that they eat grass, so they don’t need to be taught how to hunt for food. Another reason is that their natural predators – lions and cheetahs – have gone extinct in the area.

Hunting by humans is also not a problem so far, says Stabach. “There’s a lot of excitement in the local community about this animal being returned. They want to protect it.”

“Conservation scientists are all giving big thumbs up and cheering over this,” says Hogg. “Animals are often bred in captivity in zoos with the view of releasing them back into the wild, but then there are always lots of challenges. It’s pretty amazing to know that you can put them back.”

Read more: Reviving Europe’s long-lost beasts through mass rewilding; Rewilding: Bring in the big beasts to fix ecosystems