A New Beginning

For millions of years, oryx roamed their hot and dry desert habitat of northern Africa. There used to be thousands of them, says Jared Stabach. He is an ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia. But humans moved into their land and hunted them for their coats, horns, and meat. Eventually, all the scimitar-horned oryx were gone. Stabach is part of a team of researchers trying to change that. 

Scientists gathered 25 oryx living in the United Arab Emirates. They flew them to Africa from this Middle Eastern country. Then they packed the oryx into crates and trucked them for 20 hours across the desert. “It was a pretty big adventure for these animals!” says Stabach.

The team released the oryx and put GPS collars on each animal (see How GPS Tracking Works). The scientists use the GPS tracking devices to keep a close watch over the herd of oryx. Even though the desert is their native home, these animals had never lived in such a harsh place. Stabach and his team weren’t sure if the oryx would know how to find shade and water.

The researchers used the animals’ GPS signals to watch as the oryx ventured out into their new territory—an area about the size of the state of Maine. When the scientists discovered that a new oryx calf had been born in the wild, they felt confident that the animals were beginning to thrive in their new home, says Stabach. “We had a huge celebration!”

Since then, nine more calves have been born in the wild. The researchers plan to release another 35 oryx into the region sometime this year. Stabach and his team hope scimitar-horned oryx will soon roam throughout the African deserts again because of their efforts.