100 Day Project: Scimitar-horned oryx
Day 4/100
Scimitar-horned Oryx
IUCN Status : Extinct in the wild (2016)
The Scimitar-horned Oryx hasn’t had any confirmed evidence of activity in the wild since the early 1990s and so in 2016 they were classed as extinct in the wild. Thanks to a global captive breeding programme started in the 1960s, there are some herds that have been released in Northern Africa in fenced in areas in the hopes to be able to reintroduce them to the wild.
Did you know that
• both males and females have the horns and they can grow up to 1 meter long
• they are the only species of oryx that do not have the characteristic black markings
• they were prized by local people for their meat and coats, but sadly hunted by trophy hunters for their horns
Have you seen a scimitar-horned oryx in a zoo? Did you know they were extinct in the wild? Let me know in the comments!