Scimitar oryx

The scimitar-horned oryx disappeared from the Sahel, its last wild animals gone from Chad by the late 1980s, and in 2000 it was declared Extinct in the Wild. It survived in zoos and private collections, and Abu Dhabi's environment agency genetically screened its own large herd to build a diverse World Herd for release. The first group of 25 was flown to Chad's Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim reserve in 2016. Releases followed year after year, more than 500 calves have since been born in the wild, and in December 2023 the Red List moved the species to Endangered. By mid-2026 the wild population had passed 650. The recovery is still young, resting on releases that began only a decade ago.