Ten years of Arabian oryx conservation breeding in Saudi Arabia – achievements and regional perspectives

Ostrowski, Stéphane; Bedin, Eric; Lenain, Daniel M.; Abu-Zinada, A. H.

doi:10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-38.x

Cited by 46 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An endangered species, the Arabian oryx has been the focus of re-introduction projects throughout the Middle East (Stanley Price, 1989;Ostrowski et al, 1998). Formerly, this species was distributed over much of the Arabian peninsula, but now the only viable free-living herds occur in the desert of central Saudi Arabia and the western Rub al-Khali or Empty Quarter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1990, Arabian oryx were reintroduced into Mahazat as-Sayd, a large protected area 160·km north-east of Taif, Saudi Arabia. Captive-reared animals survived and reproduced without supplemental food and water; the population has increased significantly over the past decade and now numbers more than 450 individuals (Ostrowski et al, 1998;Treydte et al, 2001). Arabian oryx can live without access to drinking water in arid and hyperarid deserts , including the Rub al-Khali, one of the driest regions in the world (Meigs, 1953).…”

Section: Heterothermy and The Water Economy Of Free-living Arabian Ormentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Heterothermy and the water economy of free-living Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)

Ostrowski¹,

Williams

Ismael³

2003

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARY To test the idea that large, free-living, desert ungulates use heterothermy to reduce water loss, we measured core body temperature(Tb) of six free-ranging, adult Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) during 2 years in the arid desert of west-central Saudi Arabia. We report the first case of heterothermy in a free-living ruminant in a desert environment: Tb varied by 4.1±1.7°C day–1 during summer (June to September) and by 1.5±0.6°C day –1 during winter (November to March). Over both seasons, mean Tb was 38.4±1.3°C. During the day in both summer and winter, Tb increased continually, suggesting that oryx store heat instead of dissipating it by evaporation, whereas at night Tb decreased. The minimum Tb was lower in summer (36.5±1.16°C) than in winter (37.5±0.51°C)despite the fact that the temperature gradient between Tband air temperature (Ta) was larger and solar radiation was lower in winter. Throughout the year, daily variation in Tb appeared to reflect thermal load(Ta,max–Ta,min) rather than an endogenous rhythm. Behavioural thermoregulation was used by oryx to cope with thermal stress during summer: animals lay down in shade in the morning shortly before Ta exceeded Tb and remained there until evening when Tb–Tabecame positive. The use of heterothermy by oryx resulted in storage ofandwould672.4 kJ day–1 animal–1258.6 kJ day–1 animal–1in winter, if heat storage is based on calculations involving mean Tb. Todissipaterequirethisheatin summerby evaporation0.28 litres H2O day–1 animal–1and0.11 litres H2O day–1 animal–1 in summer and winter,respectively. Without heat storage in summer, we estimated that oryx would have to increase their water intake by 19%, a requirement that would be difficult to meet in their desert environment. If heat storage was calculated based on the daily change in Tb rather than on heat storage above mean Tb then we estimated that oryx saved 0.538 litres H2O day–1 animal–1during summer.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Heterothermy and The Water Economy Of Free-living Arabian Ormentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterothermy and the water economy of free-living Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)

Ostrowski¹,

Williams

Ismael³

2003

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In 1986, a captive breeding program was launched at National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) for re-establishing this endangered species in Saudi Arabia. In 1990, a founder population of 17 oryx was released into Mahazat as-Sayd protected area (MSPA) in Saudi Arabia (Ostrowski et al, 1998). From 1990 to 1993, a total of 72 Arabian oryx had been reintroduced into MSPA not only from NWRC but also from many international collections.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of mitochondrial genes sequences for measuring the genetic diversity of Arabian oryx

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) had faced extinction in the wild more than three decades ago and was saved by the prudent efforts of captive breeding programs. A clear understanding of the molecular diversity of contemporary Arabian oryx population is important for the long term success of captive breeding and reintroduction of this potentially endangered species. We have sequenced the segments of mitochondrial DNA including12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, cytochrome b (Cyt-b) and control region (CR) genes of 24 captive-bred and reintroduced animals. Although the sequences of 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and Cyt-b were found to be identical for all the samples, typical sequence variations in the CR gene were observed in the form of 7 haplotypes. One of these haplotypes has been reported earlier while the remaining 6 haplotypes are novel and represent different lineages from the founders. The haplotype and nucleotide diversities were found to be 0.789 and 0.009 respectively. The genetic distances among the 7 mtDNA haplotypes varied from 0.001 to 0.017. These findings are of potential relevance to the management of captive breeding programs for the conservation of Arabian oryx.

show abstract

“…However, massive hunting and scarcity of habitat caused extirpation of this antelope from the wild in early 1970s (Henderson, 1974). The foresighted determination and sincere efforts of certain groups saved the last few animals from extinction by nurturing them in captivity and then successfully reintroducing them into the protected areas (Mesochina et al, 2003;Spalton et al, 1999;Ostrowski et al, 1998). Although the savior of Arabian oryx in captivity had become an international symbol of conservation success (Dixon and Jones, 1988) some untoward events in Oman indicated that the reintroduction programs might be prone to partial or total collapse despite their initial success .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the genetic diversity of Arabian Oryx using microsatellite markers: implication for captive breeding

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) is an endangered antelope that is being protected by captive breeding programs. However, the long term success of these programs mainly depends on the prudent use of molecular information for conservation management. We have used an array of seven microsatellite loci to examine the molecular diversity in a representative population of 24 captive-bred and reintroduced Arabian oryx. The locus-wise mean observed heterozygosity (0.601) was found to be comparatively higher than the mean expected heterozygosity (0.565). The specimen-wise observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.143 to 1.00 with an average of 0.60 whereas the mean d 2 varied from 0.57 to 1023.428 with an average value of 223.357. The results of Shannon information index (I = 0.898) also indicated a high level of within population genetic diversity. The average gene flow was 0.298, ranging between 0.204 and 0.424 for different loci. In conclusion, the information about the extent of heterozygosity, allelic diversity and inbreeding/ outbreeding depression using microsatellite markers could be of potential relevance for the management of captive breeding programs for the conservation of Arabian oryx.

show abstract

Ten years of Arabian oryx conservation breeding in Saudi Arabia – achievements and regional perspectives

Cited by 46 publications

References 11 publications

Heterothermy and the water economy of free-living Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)

Heterothermy and the water economy of free-living Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)

Application of mitochondrial genes sequences for measuring the genetic diversity of Arabian oryx

Measuring the genetic diversity of Arabian Oryx using microsatellite markers: implication for captive breeding

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About