Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has completed its mission to relocate 25 scimitar-horned oryxes and 25 addax antelopes to Chad.
It plans to send another 25 oryxes in February and all of the animals will be released into the wild.
The programme is part of one of the world’s largest reintroduction programmes.
Launched in 2014, it is intended to create a self-sustaining herd of more than 500 scimitar-horned oryxes in the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Wildlife Reserve, which occupies 77,950 square kilometres.
In 2000, the species was declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
The first ones to be relocated were released into the wild in 2016 and have adapted well to their surroundings.
In 2017, another heard of 75 scimitar-horned oryxes arrived in an operation led by Chad’s Ministry of Environment and Fisheries and the Sahara Conservation Fund.
This year, 60 new calves have been born, bringing the number in the wild to about 400.
This particular breed of oryx can survive for months or even years without drinking water. A grazing animal, it derives most of its daily moisture intake from plants.
The second phase of the programme concerns the critically endangered addax.
This arid-land antelope is very well adapted to living in the Sahara, and rarely needs to drink water to survive. But its impressive horns, meat and hide are attractive to poachers, and the animal’s population has plummeted during the past century.
The first group, of 15 animals, was reintroduced in 2019, followed by 25 in 2020. Fifteen calves were born this year.
“We will always continue the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed, who pioneered the SHO reintroduction programme, the first of its kind anywhere in the world,” said Dr Shaikha Al Dhaheri, secretary general of Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
“It is saddening to see species becoming extinct and we at EAD [the agency] will do everything in our capacity to reverse this.”
Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has darted 18 wild scimitar-horned oryxes and fitted them with satellite tracking collars. This has enabled the agency to monitor the species behaviour, including reproduction.
“Next month, we will be releasing both scimitar-horned oryxes and addaxes in Chad in collaboration with our partners, who are truly invested in ensuring the project’s success, and we are on track to establish a herd of 500 of the oryxes in the wild.
“Our efforts will continue next year, and we are expecting the birth of more calves, which will help to increase herd sizes and curb the rapid decline of these species.”
Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, first noticed the rapid decline of scimitar-horned oryxes in the wild during the 1960s.
He ordered the creation of a captive breeding programme, to be piloted in the UAE. The animals were housed on Sir Bani Yas Island, where their number eventually exceeded 1,000.
Their conservation is supported by several prominent global partners, including Chad’s Ministry of Environment, the EU, the Sahara Conservation Fund, the Zoological Society of London, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Marwell Wildlife, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute and Fossil Rim Wildlife Centre.
Critically endangered species: in pictures
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
WORLD RECORD FEES FOR GOALKEEPERS
1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)
2) Alisson, Roma to Liverpool (£67m)
3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
Related
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday
Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm kick-off UAE)
Bayer Leverkusen v Schalke (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Cologne (5.30pm)
Mainz v Arminia Bielefeld (5.30pm)
Augsburg v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Bayern Munich (8.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Freiburg (10.30pm)
Sunday
VfB Stuttgart v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v Hertha Berlin (8pm)
