20 Arabian Oryx released into Wadi Rum in Jordan

Oryx released into Wadi Rum. Credit EAD.

• Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Project releases oryx into Jordan

July 2009. Twenty Arabian Oryx, 8 males and 12 females, have been released into their natural habitat in Jordan.

Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) is sponsoring the $1.100 million three-year project which entails several components, including the reintroduction of the Arabian oryx into the Wadi Rum Nature Reserve, as well as habitat rehabilitation and helping local residents to improve their living standards.

The released oryx were transferred earlier this year to Jordan after medical check ups and vaccinations from the by Al Ain Wildlife Park.

Satellite tracking
The twenty animals, which are the first herd to be released in Wadi Rum, were placed in enclosures to give them the opportunity to adapt to the desert habitat. The released animals will be monitored by satellite to track their movement and behaviour to ensure the animals' safety.

The Oryx release, which came 80 years after they were hunted to extinction in Jordan, was attended by HE Mohammed Ahmed Al Bawardi Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Managing Director of EAD, HE Ali Mohammad Bin Hammad Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to Jordan and HE Majid Mansouri, EAD's Secretary-General. Eng. Hosni Abu Ghida, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and representatives of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as well as dignitaries and heads of tribes in Wadi Rum region also attended this release.

HE Al Bawardi said that as part of the UAE long term commitment to conserve its precious biodiversity, Arabian Oryx has received a large share of the UAE wildlife protection and sustainable development strategy. "In the early 1960s, the late Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, founder of the UAE, ordered the capture of two breeding pairs of Arabian Oryx to form the nucleus of a captive-breeding programme in Al Ain. Hunting and habitat destruction were the main reasons behind the oryx's disappearance" he added.

4000 oryx in the UAE
Today, the UAE hosts the largest group of Arabian oryx in the world with more than 4,000 of oryx in the UAE.

HE Al Bawardi stressed that reintroducing the Arabian Oryx into its natural habitats in Jordon is part of the UAE's efforts to conserve this species, which is not only endangered but also an important part of the Arabian Peninsula's heritage. As part of this initiative, a similar programme is being developed to reintroduce this extinct will species into its natural habits in Iraq.

He noted that to enhance coordination in this area the Arabian oryx range states adopted a Regional Strategy to Conserve Arabian Oryx. This strategy aims at facilitating the conservation of the Arabian oryx in the range states with a long term objective to establish a viable population that will roam the Arabian Peninsula.

The oryx were released as part of a program run by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of H.H Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces initiative to reintroduce Arabian Oryx.