The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, EAD, in collaboration with the Government of Chad, has begun the preparation to reintroduce the Scimitar Horned Oryx back into its natural habitat in Chad.
The reintroduction programme seeks to promote a healthy and sustainable environment for up to 500 Scimitar Horned Oryx over a period of five years, in an isolated natural reserve within the Oadi Rime-Oadi Achim Game Reserve in Chad. Following extensive research, the release area was selected to provide the Scimitar Horned Oryx with the optimal habitat to ensure the prosperity of its population.
The Scimitar Horned Oryx, native to Central and Northern Africa, has been extinct in the wild for more than 15 years due to unregulated hunting, loss of habitat, and lack of resources. Across the world today, the Scimitar Horned Oryx can only be found in protected reserves, with the U.A.E. being home to over 3,000, the world's largest single population.
H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of EAD, said, "The U.A.E. government is strongly committed to wildlife conservation and over the years has been successful in the preservation and protection of different endangered species. With the support of the U.A.E. leadership, EAD and the Government of Chad's efforts to reintroduce this beloved species into the wild, is realisation of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's legacy in conserving wildlife and protecting the terrestrial and marine biodiversity in the U.A.E. and across the world." Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary-General at EAD, said that the Scimitar Horned Oryx reintroduction programme is a reflection of EAD's long-term commitment to expand its successful reintroduction programmes that have been implemented locally, regionally and internationally.
"EAD, in close collaboration with the Government of Chad and the Sahara Conservation Fund, seeks to ensure a healthy and sustainable environment for the Scimitar Horned Oryx. This is a pioneering project given that the natural reserve will not rely on fenced and closed spaces. The successful reintroduction programme will ensure this magnificent species has a safe, sustainable environment to roam freely, and ultimately will help remove the Scimitar Horned Oryx from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, Red List of extinct in the wild species." EAD will take the lead in managing the reintroduction programme and providing technical expertise, while the Government of Chad, represented by the Ministry of Environment and Fisheries, will be managing the reserve and the release area, as well as enforcing the application of the relevant wild life conservation laws.
The Sahara Conservation Fund will work on behalf of the EAD, and in cooperation with the Government of Chad, to provide the necessary workforce, the technical and scientific expertise, in addition to developing the staff capability, monitoring efforts and plan management.
Source: WAM