The oryx of Arabia is a Asian Ongulé near to the Antilope, this animal herbivorous occupies the Arabic Péninsule, the north of the Kuwait and the Iraq. It is the only representative not-African like the oryx, the other species being pledged with the South and East, deserts and semi-deserts of North Africa. The oryx lives in herd of approximately 60 animals, it is able to remain without drinking for long periods.

Conservation

This species is threatened of extinction (noted like " in danger" according to UICN), since there remain roughly 886 individuals; several programs of reintroduction were set up following the quasi-disappearance of the species in its natural environment. A herd was high with the zoo of Phoenix to the the United States, then individuals were reintroduced in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Israel. Since the years 1990, the population increased in Saudi Arabia (from 400 to 700 individuals between 1997 and 2003) and to a lesser extent in Israel, but fell in Oman because of a strong poaching (from 450 to 106 animals between 1996 and 2003), intended to feed from the private collections. This irrefutable fact justified besides that the reserve of Oryx of Oman is withdrawn from the list of the sites of the World heritage of UNESCO, single case at present .

Some 600 animals are high in the zoos of the whole world, of which some groups in France (Zoo of Champrépus, Safari of Peaugres, Parc of Thoiry, Parc of the Lunaret to Montpellier).

External bonds

• the site of the programme of conservation of the oryx in Saudi Arabia