Re-introduction of the red-necked ostrich, struthio camelus camelus, in mahazat as-sayd protected area in central saudi arabia

Abstract

As the Arabian Ostrich Struthio camelus syriacus, a distinct subspecies, became extinct in the wild during the mid-20th century, the most closely related subspecies, S. c. camelus occurring in north-eastern Africa, has been chosen for reintroduction into Saudi Arabia. A few individuals of this Red-necked Ostrich were obtained from Sudan in 1988–89 from a private collection, and in 1994 a few birds were translocated to Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area into a 25 ha fenced enclosure. So far a total of 96 Red-necked Ostriches has been released into the fenced Mahazat as-Sayd and the estimated population is between 125 and 150 individuals. Since captive flocks of Ostriches were translocated to Mahazat, their survival rate increased by >41% up to the end of 2000. On an average 22–30 chicks are hatched annually. A total of 137 Ostriches was recorded dead over the period of 13 years during the drought period. Both captive-bred and wildborn adults and young died of starvation and thirst, despite being provisioned with alfalfa and water during several years. © 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.