A "wild unicorn," the Arabian Oryx, whose distinctive horns are widely believed to have influence the legend of the unicorn, has been brought back from the brink of extinction in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula.
Around 1,000 of the wild Arabian Oryx are now back in their natural habitats, thanks to around 30 years of successful breeding, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
The group said that efforts to breed captive oryx began in 1982, about a decade after the last one was shot in the wild.
"To have brought the Arabian Oryx back from the brink of extinction is a major feat and true conservation success story, one which we hope will be repeated many times over for other threatened species," said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, director general of the United Arab Emirates government's Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi.
The Arabian Oryx is known locally as Al Maha and is prominently featured in Arabic poetry and paintings. Its long, narrow horns can appear as one when viewed in profile and may have provided the source of the unicorn legend. It can smell water from miles away and lives in small herds of eight to 10 animals.
The creature has been updated to "vulnerable" on the union's "Red List" of endangered plants and animals, the best improvement for an animal once thought to be extinct in the wild.
The group operates in over 160 countries and has assessed the condition of 59,508 species.
No comments:
Post a Comment