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Arabian Oryx | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Arabian Oryx

Oryx leucoryx

MammaliaGravel desert, sand desert and arid steppe of the Arabian PeninsulaVulnerable

Field profile

The Arabian oryx is the smallest oryx, near-white with dark leg markings and long nearly straight horns in both sexes. It was hunted to extinction in the wild by the early 1970s and reintroduced from captive stock. It can detect distant rainfall and travel long distances to reach new growth.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-02-09

Arabian Oryx

The Arabian oryx returned from extinction in the wild

The last wild Arabian oryx were shot around 1972. Animals held in captivity were bred and released, and in 2011 the species became the first to be moved from Extinct in the Wild back to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

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