The white antelope
Oryx leucoryx, the Arabian or white oryx, is native to the Arabian Peninsula. Its body is mostly white with dark markings on the face and legs, its long horns are straight or gently curved, and wide hooves carry it over sand. It can go up to six months without water.
By the 1960s it was on the verge of extinction, worn down by harsh conditions, overhunting and the loss of vegetation, and it was absent from the Kingdom for some 80 to 100 years.
From Taif to the sands
Recovery began at the Prince Saud al-Faisal Center for Wildlife Research, founded in April 1986 about 30 km east of Taif. Its oryx were released into the fenced Mahazat as-Sayd reserve from 1990, and from 1995 into Uruq Bani Ma'arid on the edge of the Empty Quarter.
Back in the royal reserves
Since 2021 herds have been released across the royal reserves. In the King Salman reserve the first calf was born in June 2022 after an absence of about 90 years, and at Imam Turki bin Abdullah the first came in April 2022, with eight births recorded in May 2024. In November 2024 another 20 were released into the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve.