Oryx dammah

– Extinct in the Wild

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

ANIMALIA

Phylum:

CHORDATA

Class:

MAMMALIA

Order:

ARTIODACTYLA

Family:

BOVIDAE

Scientific Name:

Oryx dammah

Species Authority:

(Cretzschmar, 1826)

Common Name/s:

English	—	SCIMITAR-HORNED ORYX
French	—	ORYX ALGAZELLE, ORYX DE LIBYE
Spanish	—	ORIX DE CIMITARRA

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

EW ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2007

Assessor/s:

Antelope Specialist Group

Evaluator/s:

Mallon, D. & Plowman, A. (Antelope Red List Authority)

Justification:

No definite evidence of its survival in the wild was obtained by Scholte (1997) or during the compilation of information from its range states for the CMS Workshop on the Conservation and Restoration of Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes held at Djerba, Tunisia in February 1998 (Smith 1998). Its Red List status was therefore changed to Extinct in the Wild. Subsequent sporadic reports of animals sighted in Niger and Chad have not been substantiated. Release of free-ranging animals in Tunisia in February 2007 marks the first stage in reintroduction in the wild. Once viable offspring are produced, or a period of five years from that date has elapsed, it will become eligible for a transfer to a different category.

History:

1965	-	"Status inadequately known-survey required or data sought" as O. tao (Scott 1965)
1986	-	Endangered (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
1988	-	Endangered (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1990	-	Endangered (IUCN 1990)
1994	-	Endangered (Groombridge 1994)
1996	-	Critically Endangered (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
2000	-	Extinct in the Wild (Hilton-Taylor 2000)

Geographic Range

Range Description:

Formerly widespread across North Africa, now Extinct in the Wild over all its range. Captive herds have been kept in fenced areas in protected areas in Tunisia as part of a long-term reintroduction programme. Release of the first animals into the wild is planned for early 2007. Reintroduction is also planned in Senegal; eight animals were released into a fenced enclosure at Ferlo North Faunal Reserve in spring 2003.

Countries:

Reintroduced:

Tunisia

Regionally extinct:

Algeria; Burkina Faso; Chad; Egypt; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Mali; Mauritania; Morocco; Niger; Nigeria; Senegal; Sudan; Western Sahara

Population

Population:

An estimated 500 Oryx survived at least until 1985 in Chad and Niger, but by 1988 only a few dozen individuals survived in the wild and since then there have been no confirmed reports of any wild oryx surviving in the wild (Morrow in press).

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

Primarily inhabits sub-desert, annual grassland steppe areas. Found in rolling dunes, grassy steppes and wooded inter-dunal depressions, rarely entering true desert or true sahel country. The Scimitar-horned Oryx is well adapted to arid areas.

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

3.5	Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry
8.1	Desert - Hot

Threats

Threats:

Overhunting and habitat loss, including competition with domestic livestock, have been reported as the main reasons for the extinction of the wild population of Scimitar-horned Oryx (Mallon and Kingswood 2001, Devillers and Devillers-Terschuren 2005, Morrow in press).

List of Threats:

1.1.4.1	Habitat Loss/Degradation - Agriculture - Livestock - Nomadic (past)
3.1	Harvesting (hunting/gathering) - Food (past)
3.5	Harvesting (hunting/gathering) - Cultural/scientific/leisure activities (past)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

A global captive breeding programme was initiated in the 1960s. In 1996 there were at least 1,250 captive animals held in zoos and parks around the world with a further 2,145 on ranches in Texas. A large number, probably >2,000 are kept in a private collection in the United Arab Emirates. As part of planned reintroduction projects, animals have been released into fenced protected areas in Tunisia (Bou Hedma National Park 1985, Sidi Toui National Park 1999), Morocco (Souss-Massa National Park 1995), and Senegal (Ferlo Faunal Reserve 1998). The Scimitar-horned Oryx is listed on CMS Appendix 1.

List of Conservation Actions:

5.1	Species-based actions - Re-introductions (in place, needed)
5.7.1	Species-based actions - Ex situ conservation actions - Captive breeding/Artificial propagation (in place)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Devillers, P. and Devillers-Terschuren, J. 2005. Oryx dammah. In: R.C. Beudels, P. Devillers, R.-M. Lafontaine, J. Devillers-Terschuren and M.-O. Beudels (eds). Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes. Status and Perspectives. Report on the conservation status of the six Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes. CMS SSA Concerted Action. 2nd edition. CMS Technical Series Publication N°11, 2005., 13-38. UNEP/CMS Secretariat, Bonn, Germany.

Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Hilton-Taylor, C. (compiler). 2000. 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1988. 1988 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Mallon, D.P. and Kingswood, S.C. (compilers). 2001. Antelopes. Part 4: North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Global Survey and Regional Action Plans. SSC Antelope Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Morrow, C. In press. Oryx dammah. In: J.S. Kingdon and M. Hoffmann (eds). The Mammals of Africa. Vol. 6. Pigs, Deer, Giraffe, Bovids, and Hippos. Academic Press, Amsterdam.

Newby, J. 2003. Sahelo-Saharan antelopes 2003 status report. Gnusletter 22(1): 2-3.

Newby, J.E. 1988. Aridland wildlife in decline: the case of the scimitar-horned oryx. In: A. Dixon and D. Jones (eds) Conservation and biology of desert antelopes. Christopher Helm, London.

Pierard, M. 2003. Scimitar-horned oryx reintroduction in Senegal. Gnusletter 22(2): 16-17.

Scott, P. (ed.) 1965. Section XIII. Preliminary List of Rare Mammals and Birds. In: The Launching of a New Ark, pp. 15–207. First Report of the President and Trustees of the World Wildlife Fund. An International Foundation for saving the world's wildlife and wild places 1961–1964. Collins, London.

Wakefiled, S. 2003. In: S.L. Monfort (ed.). Fourth Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting, Agadir, 7-9 May 2003. pp. 17-28.

Citation:	Antelope Specialist Group 2007. Oryx dammah. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 28 August 2008.
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