The scimitar-horned oryx, a pale, long-horned antelope that once ranged across the grasslands fringing the Sahara, was declared Extinct in the Wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2000. Since 2016, captive-bred animals released into one of Africa’s largest protected areas, in central Chad, have built a wild herd that sources now put at more than 600 animals, and by one estimate as many as 900. In September 2026, University of Maryland researchers described early evidence that these oryx are relearning the social and migration habits that vanished with their wild ancestors.
At a glance
- Wild population: The herd in Chad now numbers more than 600 animals according to the Smithsonian, more than 650 according to Sahara Conservation, and around 650 to 900 according to University of Maryland researchers.
- Official status: The IUCN moved the species from Extinct in the Wild to Endangered on December 11, 2023, more than two decades after first declaring it extinct in the wild.
- New research: Scientists at the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian are studying whether the reintroduced animals have relearned migration and social habits, and report early signs that they are.
How the scimitar-horned oryx returned to Chad
The comeback started in captivity, since the last wild sightings were reported in the 1980s. Beginning in 2016, the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi released oryx from its breeding herd into the Ouadi Rimé–Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve, and nearly 350 have been released since, according to the University of Maryland. The first calf was born in Chad that December, and Sahara Conservation counts more than 500 wild-born calves since.
The project is a joint initiative of the Government of Chad and the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi, with Sahara Conservation carrying out the on-the-ground work, according to the Smithsonian. Chad’s Minister of Environment, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development, Mohamed Abdou Karim Hanno, said in a statement reported by Gulf News: “After decades of extinction, the return of this species demonstrates Chad’s commitment to biodiversity conservation.” Partners include the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, the Zoological Society of London, and the Saint Louis Zoo, part of a broader wave of species recovery successes worldwide.
The IUCN reclassified the species as Endangered on December 11, 2023, more than two decades after declaring it extinct in the wild. The Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi says research shows the overall survival rate of the species in the wild exceeds 85%. A University of Maryland researcher calls the recovery one of the very rare cases of a large mammal brought back from extinction in the wild, with only a few comparable examples such as the Arabian oryx and Przewalski’s horse.
What researchers are learning about wild instincts
Because the species was gone from the wild for so long, almost everything known about its social behavior came from captive herds, which are smaller and kept in fenced enclosures, according to the University of Maryland. So researchers there and at the Smithsonian are asking whether animals raised in captivity for generations can learn to be wild again. By most typical benchmarks for similar programs, the university says, the reintroduction is working.
Postdoctoral researcher Marron McConnell found that the oryx are highly social but don’t form fixed herds, instead constantly mixing, splitting apart, and reforming into new groups. The first animals released in 2016 arrived in a landscape with no social world of their own. “They had to construct a society from scratch,” McConnell said.
Ph.D. student Gayatri Anand studies migration, which in hoofed animals is passed from parent to offspring rather than inherited. “It looks like there is a learning process going on between these newer generations of oryxes, now that the earliest batch has gained more experience tracking resource waves,” Anand said.
Katherine Mertes, a Smithsonian research ecologist who has tracked the reintroduced oryx for almost 10 years, has watched the herd follow seasonal pulses of new plant growth many miles across the dry grassland. “By following greening vegetation over long distances, we’re seeing the oryx are willing to do exactly what they need to survive,” Mertes said.
A model for other Sahel species
The same tracking approach now supports other endangered antelope in the reserve. According to the Smithsonian, an original group of 15 addax released in 2020 has grown to more than 150 animals, and Sahara Conservation says the project also now includes the dama gazelle and the North African ostrich. “In so many ways, the oryx have been a good test case for what works in conservation,” said Dolores Reed, curator of ungulates at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
Antelope also play an ecological role in the region, aiding the seed dispersal and nutrient cycling that slow desertification, the Smithsonian says.
What isn’t secure yet
The IUCN still lists the oryx as Endangered, and Sahara Conservation says efforts must continue to secure its long-term survival and to improve the management of the habitat that many other species depend on. Population estimates also vary, from more than 600 to around 900, and the research on relearned migration is still early. Mertes says monitoring has let partners step in during droughts and disease events.
“We’re not quite at the level where we can leave them totally alone,” Mertes said. “But already we’ve seen the herd weather disease events and bad years, and they’ve bounced back every time.”
Read more
For more on this story, see: Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Giant pandas move from endangered to vulnerable in major conservation win
- California condors nest on Yurok land for the first time in over a century
- The Good News for Humankind archive on wildlife & land conservation
- The Good News for Humankind archive on international cooperation
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