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Life after extinction: Shaumari’s Arabian oryx
By Melissa Pawson, Jordan News
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AMMAN — Loping across the dusty, scrubby landscape, the
white Arabian oryx is distinct against the brown-gold glow of the evening sun.
A mother rubs her head against her calf, her elegant horns stretching half a meter taller than his new, stubby horns; another oryx slowly munches on a scrubby bush.اضافة اعلان
A collection of photos taken at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, in Jordan. The park hosts a conservation success story in the Arabian oryx, which was once completely wiped out in Jordan. (Photos: Ibrahim Rantissi/Jordan News)
Not far away, a fourth oryx appears and disappears amongst the bushes, its black and white face markings merging with the dappled evening shadows.
Shaumari Reserve is a peaceful haven for these creatures, which were once wiped out in Jordan.
The Arabian oryx, a wild, white antelope that is the national animal of Jordan, became extinct in the Kingdom around 100 years ago.
Some 50 years later, in 1972, the very last wild Arabian oryx was killed by hunters in Oman.
Increased hunting and human expansion ultimately led to the decline of the distinctive antelope, which had previously ranged across much of Jordan and neighboring countries.
However, decades of dedicated conservation programs have worked to bring the Arabian oryx back to its natural habitat, and herds have since been transplanted to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Syria.
A collection of photos taken at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, in Jordan. The park hosts a conservation success story in the Arabian oryx, which was once completely wiped out in Jordan. (Photos: Ibrahim Rantissi/Jordan News)
Today, visitors can find a herd of up to 95 oryx at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, a 22sq.km protected area in the east of Jordan, near Azraq.
Shaumari, which is managed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), was the first wildlife reserve to be established in Jordan in 1975, and it has since provided a protected environment for extinct and endangered animals to thrive and breed in their natural habitat.
The site manager for the reserve, Ashraf Elhalah, explains that the RSCN has been working hard in recent years to improve the genetic diversity of the oryx herd: “We noticed in the last year that the herd has a few problems in the population, such as the abnormality in the horn or early mortality,” he told Jordan News in an interview.
Elhalah added that because of this, the RSCN began collaborating with neighboring countries in order to diversify the oryx population.
He said: “We import Arabian oryx and gazelle from Saudi Arabia … also with the same purpose to improve genetic diversity of the Arabian oryx, and now we are working with the environmental agency in the United Arab Emirates, also to continue improving the genetic diversity.”
These efforts have seen the site nearly reach its maximum capacity for Arabian oryx in recent years, a far cry from the mammal’s dire situation less than a century ago.
Shaumari Reserve is also home to ostriches, gazelles, onagers (a wild Asian donkey), wild rabbits, a variety of venomous and non-venomous snakes, and migrating birds such as raptors.
A collection of photos taken at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, in Jordan. The park hosts a conservation success story in the Arabian oryx, which was once completely wiped out in Jordan. (Photos: Ibrahim Rantissi/Jordan News)
Hassan Shishani, a tour guide at the reserve, told Jordan News that “The most important thing that is eye catching for me (at the reserve) is the migration of birds.
The migration of birds starts in spring and ends in summer, and the second season starts in autumn. They go from Europe to Africa in autumn looking for moderate temperatures and food.”
While Shaumari Reserve has a special glow under the evening sun, Shishani explains that the best time to visit is in the morning, at around 9am, as this is “the best time to see animals that are more active.” He also explains that spring, particularly in March and April, are some of the best times for seeing the reserve’s animal populations.
Shaumari Reserve has a visitor’s center where guests can see a selection of the animals up close behind glass, but Shishani recommends taking a safari tour in order to see the wildlife in its natural habitat.
There are two tours visitors can take, one which covers 7km and takes around an hour, and a longer tour which covers 14km and lasts for up to two and a half hours, with a break for tea infused with medicinal herbs, brewed on a campfire.
While visitors get a brief insight into the reserve on safari and visitors center trips, site manager Elhalah explains that there are long term challenges facing the reserve.
Among these challenges, Elhalah explained that both the pandemic and land use beyond the reserve have severely affected operations at Shaumari.
“Coronavirus made a very big change in the tourism activity here in Jordan and also outside.
We completely shut down our tourism program in 2020, and now we start to work again, but tourism is still minor,” he said.
Elhalah added that water scarcity and water collection methods in the surrounding areas also present an ongoing issue: “Many of the impacts on the water resources and also on the vegetation cover outside of the protected area reflect negatively on the protected area itself,” he said.
“We have to think now about changing our plan and making improvements for water distribution inside the reserve and also thinking about making water collection … in order to regenerate new vegetation cover for wild species inside.”
Indifferent to the potential threats to their survival, the Arabian oryx lope on through the scrubland of the Shaumari Reserve.
A single oryx bows its head to graze on a bush before continuing on its journey. Having returned from extinction to thrive in its new-old habitat, the resilient animal appears unfazed by the dangers the next century might bring.
Read more Around Jordan
A mother rubs her head against her calf, her elegant horns stretching half a meter taller than his new, stubby horns; another oryx slowly munches on a scrubby bush.
A collection of photos taken at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, in Jordan. The park hosts a conservation success story in the Arabian oryx, which was once completely wiped out in Jordan. (Photos: Ibrahim Rantissi/Jordan News)
Not far away, a fourth oryx appears and disappears amongst the bushes, its black and white face markings merging with the dappled evening shadows.
Shaumari Reserve is a peaceful haven for these creatures, which were once wiped out in Jordan.
The Arabian oryx, a wild, white antelope that is the national animal of Jordan, became extinct in the Kingdom around 100 years ago.
Some 50 years later, in 1972, the very last wild Arabian oryx was killed by hunters in Oman.
Increased hunting and human expansion ultimately led to the decline of the distinctive antelope, which had previously ranged across much of Jordan and neighboring countries.
However, decades of dedicated conservation programs have worked to bring the Arabian oryx back to its natural habitat, and herds have since been transplanted to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Syria.
A collection of photos taken at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, in Jordan. The park hosts a conservation success story in the Arabian oryx, which was once completely wiped out in Jordan. (Photos: Ibrahim Rantissi/Jordan News)
Today, visitors can find a herd of up to 95 oryx at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, a 22sq.km protected area in the east of Jordan, near Azraq.
Shaumari, which is managed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), was the first wildlife reserve to be established in Jordan in 1975, and it has since provided a protected environment for extinct and endangered animals to thrive and breed in their natural habitat.
The site manager for the reserve, Ashraf Elhalah, explains that the RSCN has been working hard in recent years to improve the genetic diversity of the oryx herd: “We noticed in the last year that the herd has a few problems in the population, such as the abnormality in the horn or early mortality,” he told Jordan News in an interview.
Elhalah added that because of this, the RSCN began collaborating with neighboring countries in order to diversify the oryx population.
He said: “We import Arabian oryx and gazelle from Saudi Arabia … also with the same purpose to improve genetic diversity of the Arabian oryx, and now we are working with the environmental agency in the United Arab Emirates, also to continue improving the genetic diversity.”
These efforts have seen the site nearly reach its maximum capacity for Arabian oryx in recent years, a far cry from the mammal’s dire situation less than a century ago.
Shaumari Reserve is also home to ostriches, gazelles, onagers (a wild Asian donkey), wild rabbits, a variety of venomous and non-venomous snakes, and migrating birds such as raptors.
A collection of photos taken at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq, in Jordan. The park hosts a conservation success story in the Arabian oryx, which was once completely wiped out in Jordan. (Photos: Ibrahim Rantissi/Jordan News)
Hassan Shishani, a tour guide at the reserve, told Jordan News that “The most important thing that is eye catching for me (at the reserve) is the migration of birds.
The migration of birds starts in spring and ends in summer, and the second season starts in autumn. They go from Europe to Africa in autumn looking for moderate temperatures and food.”
While Shaumari Reserve has a special glow under the evening sun, Shishani explains that the best time to visit is in the morning, at around 9am, as this is “the best time to see animals that are more active.” He also explains that spring, particularly in March and April, are some of the best times for seeing the reserve’s animal populations.
Shaumari Reserve has a visitor’s center where guests can see a selection of the animals up close behind glass, but Shishani recommends taking a safari tour in order to see the wildlife in its natural habitat.
There are two tours visitors can take, one which covers 7km and takes around an hour, and a longer tour which covers 14km and lasts for up to two and a half hours, with a break for tea infused with medicinal herbs, brewed on a campfire.
While visitors get a brief insight into the reserve on safari and visitors center trips, site manager Elhalah explains that there are long term challenges facing the reserve.
Among these challenges, Elhalah explained that both the pandemic and land use beyond the reserve have severely affected operations at Shaumari.
“Coronavirus made a very big change in the tourism activity here in Jordan and also outside.
We completely shut down our tourism program in 2020, and now we start to work again, but tourism is still minor,” he said.
Elhalah added that water scarcity and water collection methods in the surrounding areas also present an ongoing issue: “Many of the impacts on the water resources and also on the vegetation cover outside of the protected area reflect negatively on the protected area itself,” he said.
“We have to think now about changing our plan and making improvements for water distribution inside the reserve and also thinking about making water collection … in order to regenerate new vegetation cover for wild species inside.”
Indifferent to the potential threats to their survival, the Arabian oryx lope on through the scrubland of the Shaumari Reserve.
A single oryx bows its head to graze on a bush before continuing on its journey. Having returned from extinction to thrive in its new-old habitat, the resilient animal appears unfazed by the dangers the next century might bring.
Read more Around Jordan
