10 YEARS OF ARABIAN ORYX CONSERVATION BREEDING IN SAUDI-ARABIA - ACHIEVEMENTS AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES

The National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development was established in 1986 to oversee all wildlife conservation programmes in Saudi Arabia. The Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx is one of the flagship s pecies of the Saudi Arabian reintroduction policy. It has been captive -bred since 1986 at the National Wildlife Research Center near Taif. W ith the creation of a network of protected areas in the former distrib ution range of the species, attention has shifted to the release of ca ptive-bred oryx into Mahazat as-Sayd and 'Uruq Bani Ma' arid reserves. Similar programmes carried out in other countries of the Arabian Peni nsula underline the need for regional co-operation and pan-Arabic publ ic awareness programmes, in addition to captive-breeding and reintrodu ction projects.