Habitat and Distribution
Today the scimitar oryx is extinct in the wild. Previously, it inhabited grassy steppes, semideserts and deserts in a narrow strip of central north Africa (Niger and Chad). It was widespread in the fringes of the Sahara, mainly in the subdesert Great Steppe, the grassy zone between the real desert and the sahel. This area was characterized by an annual rainfall of 75–150 mm (20–40 US gal). Once in 1936, a single herd of 10000 oryx was noticed in the steppe area of Chad. By the mid 1970s, Chad housed more than 95% of the world population of this species. According to IUCN, it is regionally extinct in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia and western Sahara Desert.
Read more about this topic: Scimitar Oryx
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