Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Endangered bird species include the Arabian bustard (found on the Tihamah coastal
plain). The ostrich and houbara bustard are currently being bred in captivity and the latter
has been successfully reintroduced into the wild.
THE RETURN OF THE ARABIAN ORYX
Just two hundred years ago, the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), with its distinctive white coat and curved horns,
roamed across much of the Arabian Peninsula, with the greatest concentrations present in the Nafud Desert in
northern Arabia and the Rub al-Khali (Empty Quarter) in the south. Their range may even have extended into
what is now Iraq and Syria. Hunting devastated the population which retreated deeper into the desert, pursued by
automatic weapons and motorized vehicles. Wiped out in the northern Nafud in the 1950s, the last wild oryx was
killed in the Dhofar foothills of Oman in 1972.
But all was not lost and it wasn't long before an ambitious program of reintroducing Arabian oryx to their
former territories was launched. A captive breeding program had begun in the early 1960s when four wild oryx
(three males and a female) were caught in south-eastern Saudi Arabia. In 1964, nine Arabian oryx (gifts from
Gulf sheikhs) were taken to Phoenix Zoo in the United States of America. By 1977, the 'World Oryx Herd' in
America had grown to almost 100. Between 1978 and 1992, members of the herd were transported back to the
Middle East,including 55 oryx to Saudi Arabia. Smaller populations were transported to Jordan, Israel, the United
Arab Emirates and Oman.
In Saudi Arabia, Arabian oryx from the breeding program of the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC;
www.nwrc.gov.sa ) in Taif were released into the fenced Mahazat as-Sayd protected area (2,244 sq km). Since
1995, 149 oryx have been released into the 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid protected area in the northwestern part of the
Rub' al-Khali near Sulayyil. Their territory now measures 12,000 sq km and, despite the challenges of poaching
and drought, the remaining herd (estimated over 500 animals) is the only viable population of Arabian oryx in the
wild.
National Parks
Saudi authorities now run 15 wildlife reserves (or 'himma') amounting to over 500,000
hectares of the country; these are part of a wider plan to include more than 100 protected
wildlife and ecological biozones.
Travellers wishing to visit any reserve must apply for permission from the National
Commission for Wildlife Conservation & Development ( Click here ) . Some of the best
places to see wildlife are at the 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid Protected Area ( www.arabian-
oryx.gov.sa/en/ubm ) in the Empty Quarter, and the Farasan Islands.
Environmental Issues
Saudi Arabia's environmental problems are legion and include desertification, pollution,
deforestation, lack of local education and awareness, and critical depletion of underground
water.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search