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Decline and extinction
The collation of early written accounts provides a picture of the Arabian oryx's progressive range reduction. Around 1800, the Arabian oryx probably roamed over much of the interior of the Peninsula proper, inhabiting sandy areas and the gravel plains surrounding them, except where the habitat was obviously unsuitable (mountains). Evidences of oryx presence have been found in Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the west of United Arab Emirates, in Oman, and in Yemen. The cores of its distribution seem to have been the Great Nafud desert in the North and the southern Rub' al-Khali desert. However the limits of the former range are not precisely known.
In the north, oryx were probably always centred on the Great Nafud (Saudi Arabia), but they may have ranged as far as the western shore of the Euphrates River, in Iraq and Syria (Mesopotamia and Syrian Desert) in the north-east. It is unlikely that the oryx ever occurred east of the Euphrates. Oryx population probably extended west and southwards through eastern Jordan, although their presence in Sinai and Israel is questionable. Oryx also occurred in the ad-Dahna, the narrow sand desert connecting the Nafud with the Rub' al-Khali. Little is known of the presence of oryx in the Najd, in central Arabia.
In the south, the oryx inhabited the vast Rub' al-Khali [Empty Quarter] sand sea, and the surrounding gravel plains, in Saudi Arabia, Yemen (Hadramout), Oman (Dhofar, Jiddat al-Harrasis and Wahiba sands) - sometimes seen only a few kilometres from the coast - and the United Arab Emirates.
By the 1900's, the distribution of oryx had already severely contracted and the oryx was largely restricted to the remote and inaccessible sandy areas: Nafud, ad-Dahna and Rub' al-Khali areas. In the 1930s, the northern and southern populations were no longer linked. Douglas Carruthers summarised the situation in 1935: "At the present day the Arabian Oryx is divided into two separate detachments, the northern and the southern. These two groups are quite isolated keeping to their two sandy refuges - the Northern Nafud and the Southern Wilderness of Rub al Khali [...]. In the north, the nucleus of Oryx centres around the Western Nafud between Jauf and Taima. It is doubtful whether the Oryx exists any longer in the Dahana sand belts, or indeed in any of the other sand-belts in middle Arabia. The great southern wilderness of sand from Najran to Oman is his main, and probably his last stronghold." Oryx were also probably eliminated from the northwestern and northeastern edges of the Empty Quarter, in Saudi Arabia and UAE, respectively, during the same period. Around 1950, the northern population became extinct, as did the population of the western end of the Rub' al-Khali. Thereafter oryx remained only around the southern and south-eastern margins of the Rub' al-Khali from Yemen to Oman, but reduction in their range continued from both ends. By the early 1960s, no oryx survived west of 51ºE, remaining only in the Wadi Mitan, on the Eastern Aden Protectorate-Oman border where 'Operation Oryx' took place in 1962; in Dhofar, especially in the foothills of Jabal Qara; and in the Jiddat al-Harrasis, where the last wild oryx are believed to have been killed in 1972.
From extinction to reintroduction
Lee Talbot reported in 1960 in his book 'A Look at Threatened Species' published by the Fauna Preservation Society (FPS) that Arabian oryx appeared to be extinct in all parts of its former range along the southern edge of the Rub' al-Khali. He believed that the few hundred animals that might still exist would be exterminated within the next few years and recommended that a captive breeding programme be initiated to save the species [Talbot, 1960].
Stimulated by Talbot's report, Michael Crouch, then Assistant Adviser in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, drew FPS's attention to the fact that, each spring, small groups of oryx were still in the habit of emerging onto the gravel plains in the north east corner of the Protectorate, where he thought a capture attempt would be possible. These two reports led the FPS to launch an oryx capture expedition to the Eastern Aden Protectorate. The resulting 'Operation Oryx' caught three males and one female, although one of the males died shortly after capture. The remaining three animals were sent to Isiolo in Kenya for quarantine [Grimwood, 1988; Shepherd, 1965]. As it was clear that these three animals did not constitute a viable population for captive breeding, additional founders were sought. In 1963 the ZSL offered a female. This was taken along with the other three animals to Phoenix Zoo in Arizona, after another quarantine in New York. Late in 1963, another female offered by Sheikh Jaber Abdullah as-Sabah, ruler of Kuwait arrived in Phoenix, followed in spring 1964 by two pairs of oryx given by HRH King Saud of Saudi Arabia. The group of nine Arabian oryx present in Phoenix by summer 1964 was given the somewhat presumptuous title of 'World Herd'. Although some of these animals never bred, the herd grew steadily over the next few years. In the period 1963-1977, the number of oryx in American collections increased at an average rate of 17.2 % per year to reach around 100 by 1977 [Stanley Price, 1989].
At this stage, it became possible to return some Arabian oryx to the Middle East [Stanley Price, 1989; Marshall, 1998]:
- 10 went to Jordan between 1978 and 1990 (Shaumari)
- 12 to Israel between 1978 and 1992 (Hai Bar)
- 35 to Yalooni in Oman between 1980 and 1995
- 55 to Saudi Arabia between 1982 and 1992 (29 to Thumamah and 26 to Mahazat as-Sayd)
- 18 to the United Arab Emirates between 1983 and 1987 (16 to Abu Dhabi and 2 to Dubai)
Subsequently, in June 1982, the first ten descendants of the 'World Herd' were released to the wild in the Jiddat al-Harasis in Oman [Stanley Price, 1989].
The much acclaimed return of the Arabian oryx to Oman symbolized the success of a new approach to species conservation and established reintroduction as a conservation tool. A second release followed in 1984. The population grew steadily and by October 1995 there were approximately 280 oryx in the wild However in February 1996 poaching started and oryx were captured and smuggled out of the country for sale to private zoos and animal collectors in the middle east. Despite the poaching the population continued to increase and by October 1996 was estimated to be just over 400. However, as poaching intensified in 1997 ad 1998, the wild population collapsed. By September 1998, there were probably only 138 animals left, out of which 28 females. The wild population was no longer considered viable and action was taken to rescue some of the remaining animals from the wild to form a captive herd [Spalton et al., 1999].
In 1995 a second free-ranging population was established in the 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid protected area in the north-western part of the Rub' al-Khali in Saudi Arabia. Till 2006, it was probably the only viable wild population of Arabian oryx in the world (see more details in the 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid section).
