| Scientific
Name: Oryx dammah
Size: 1.2 metres at shoulder
Weight: 200 kgs
IUCN Endangered Species?: Extinct in the
Wild
Estimated Wild Population: Over 100 from
Reintroduction Programme
Distribution: Tunisia
Description: The
scimitar-horned oryx became extinct in the wild in the mid 1990s.
There have been recent sightings of four animals but these have
not been confirmed. The
reason for its extinction was largely a result of overhunting.
Fortunately, a few thousand animals existed in captive breeding
programmes around the world and a population has recently been
reintroduced to a protected area of Tunisia where they have settled in
well. Its status will not
be improved until the young of these reintroduced animals have
successfully bred. The
future of this species now seems promising and appears to be one of the
more successful instances of reintroducing an extinct animal to its
former habitat. The long,
slightly curved horns are uniquely shaped amongst antelopes.
Their thinness does make them more fragile than most antelope
horns. The shape and degree
of curvature can also vary greatly between individuals.
As with all oryx, it is supremely adapted for a desert existence.
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