Page 158 - It Can't Be True! Animals! - Unbelievable Facts About Amazing Animals (DK)

Sandy

survivor

Herds of Arabian oryx, with their spectacular
horns up to 1.5 m (5 ft) long, were once a familiar sight
throughout the sandy deserts of the Arabian Peninsula.
Sadly, in the 19th and 20th centuries the horns of this
beautiful antelope made a tempting target for hunters.
In 1972, the last Arabian oryx disappeared from the
wild. Just a handful of animals remained in zoos or
were kept in privately owned herds.

Today, more than 1,200 Arabian

oryx thrive in the wild, and about

6,000–7,000 live in captivity.

With the prospect of the Arabian oryx vanishing
forever, an international conservation effort led by
the World Wide Fund for Nature, together with several
zoos, made plans for its rescue. Under this scheme,
called Operation Oryx, the conservationists bred the
antelope in captivity, building up new herds that were
gradually reintroduced into the wild.
The success story continues, as
Arabian oryx are now protected
by law and their numbers
are slowly rising.

C O N S E R VAT I O N
Desert life
The Arabian oryx can survive for
weeks without water. Its broad
hooves allow it to walk on shifting
sands without sinking in. The smaller
BACK · FROM · THE · BRINK
animal seen nearby is a gazelle,
which shares the oryx’s desert home.

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