Oman opens sprawling oryx reserve to ecotourists

AFP, HAIMA: The Gulf sultanate of Oman is looking to carve itself a new niche in ecotourism by opening up a sanctuary for one of the desert’s most fabled creatures—the Arabian oryx.

Once extinct in the wild, the rare member of the antelope family famed for its elegant horns has been dragged back from the precipice in a sprawling reserve fenced off for decades from the public.

That changed last month when authorities for the first time officially opened the sanctuary to visitors—part of a broader bid by Oman to boost tourism as oil revenues decline.

On a recent outing, wildlife rangers in SUVs patrolled the sandy plains of the reserve in central Oman’s Haima province, spotting groups of grazing oryx and other indigenous species.

For years, the main goal has been a basic one—ensuring the oryx can survive by focusing on “helping the animals here reproduce and multiply”, said sanctuary spokesman Hamed bin Mahmoud al-Harsousi.

But now, as numbers have ticked up from just 100 some two decades ago to almost 750 today, the authorities began eyeing another role for the reserve.

“There has been more interest in its tourism potential—to take advantage of its uniqueness and rare animals,” Harsousi told the news agency.

The story of the Arabian oryx—sometimes referred to as the Arabian “unicorn” due to its distinctive profile—is one of miraculous survival.

Hunted prolifically, the last wild member of the species was killed in Oman by suspected poachers in 1972.

The species only clung to existence thanks to a programme to breed them in captivity and in the early 1980s a batch of 10 were released into Oman’s Arabian Oryx Sanctuary.

 

Oman opens sprawling oryx reserve to ecotourists

AFP, HAIMA: The Gulf sultanate of Oman is looking to carve itself a new niche in ecotourism by opening up a sanctuary for one of the deserts most fabled creaturesthe Arabian oryx. Once extinct in the wild, the rare member of the antelope family famed for its elegant horns has been dragged back from the precipice in a sprawling reserve fenced off for decades from the public. That changed last month when authorities for the first time officially opened the sanctuary to visitorspart of a broader bid by Oman to boost tourism as oil revenues decline. On a recent outing, wildlife rangers in SUVs patrolled the sandy plains of the reserve in central Omans Haima province, spotting groups of grazing oryx and other indigenous species. For years, the main goal has been a basic oneensuring the oryx can survive by focusing on helping the animals here reproduce and multiply, said sanctuary spokesman Hamed bin Mahmoud al-Harsousi. But now, as numbers have ticked up from just 100 some two decades ago to almost 750 today, the authorities began eyeing another role for the reserve. There has been more interest in its tourism potentialto take advantage of its uniqueness and rare animals, Harsousi told the news agency. The story of the Arabian oryxsometimes referred to as the Arabian unicorn due to its distinctive profileis one of miraculous survival. Hunted prolifically, the last wild member of the species was killed in Oman by suspected poachers in 1972. The species only clung to existence thanks to a programme to breed them in captivity and in the early 1980s a batch of 10 were released into Omans Arabian Oryx Sanctuary.