Effect of Horn Disfigurement on Poaching in Reintroduced Herds of Oryx leucoryx - Coursework Example

Effect of Horn Disfigurement on Poaching in Reintroduced Herds of Oryx leucoryx BIOLOGY 494 CAPTONE RESEARCH PROPOSAL PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THEDEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL and ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES AT OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE SUBMITTED BY ZZZZZZZ QUARTER / SEMESTER, 2010 RESEARCH ADVISOR’S NAME Biology 494 Senior Seminar Month, Day, Year 4:00 P.M. Science Annex 105 Effect of Horn Disfigurement on Poaching of Reintroduced Herds of Arabian Oryx, Oryx leucoryx By Jawad Al-Bagashi Nine of the 10 species of wild ruminants that occupy hot deserts are threatened. Poaching has decimated the population of many endangered animals throughout the world. Unlike the endangered rhinoceros and the saiga antelope, hunted largely for their horns, the poaching of Oryx leucoryx Oman was largely due to the capture of live females and their young for private collections. Live capture poaching of female oryxes for private collections is dependent on obtaining an intact female. I propose that surgical disfigurement of one horn of a female oryx would be a deterrent to live capture poaching of that female. I propose to work with existing reserve populations in Oman to release herds with surgically disfigured female oryxes into the unfenced sanctuaries and monitor the reproductive success of these females. My expectation is the disfigured horn would be a clear identifier of a reserve-protected female making her undesirable in any private collection. Oryx keep the same horns for life so there would be no renewal of the symmetry of the horns for the productive breeding years of that female. The reproductive success of these disfigured females should allow the reestablishment of small herd groups to establish the population in the wild. Oryx would be protected with restricted patrols and involvement of the tribal populations in the management of the oryx. INTRODUCTION The Arabian oryx is a graceful white antelope with long straight horns, black markings on its legs and face and long legs with broad hooves for running on sand. It is deer-sized (ca. 150 lb./67 kg.) and is widely believed to be the animal that sparked the legend of the unicorn because the two horns are not visible from the side profile and it appears to have one horn. Arabian oryx are arid-region grazers that feed on grasses, herbs, fruit and roots. Like other desert antelope, they can exist for weeks without water but move to areas of recent rainfall in order to feed upon new grasses. Oryx are herd animals centered on an adult bull, several adult cows and a few subordinate males. Where water and grazing conditions permit, male oryx establish territories and bachelor males are solitary. Aside from man, wolves are the only natural enemies. The free ranging Arabian oryxes (Oryx leucoryx) once roamed freely over most of the Arabian Peninsula, the Sinai Peninsula, Israel, Jordan and Iraq in an area stretching from the south of Syria to Oman and Yemen in the east into Iraq in the north. Today, the Arabian oryx lives only in special protected reserves in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Israel. Hunting was the primary reason for the demise of wild Arabian oryx. Its meat and hide were prized, as were its lengthy horns. After the advent of motorized hunting following World War II, the population declined due to sport hunting and the collecting of animals for private collections. With the availability of military-surplus equipment, sport hunters using four-wheel-drive vehicles, and claimed the last of the wild Arabian oryx in the 1960’s. It was extirpated by 1972. A 1972 expedition found no oryx remained in the wild (Henderson, 1974). Attempts to reintroduce the Arabian oryx to the wild have met with mixed success. The first reintroduction of captive-bred animals occurred in 1982 when a dozen oryx were returned to Oman and additional reintroductions have occurred thereafter (Stanley Price, M. R. 1989). The free ranging Arabian Desert oryxes (Oryx leucoryx) in the 2,244-km2 Mahazat as-Sayd protected area of Saudi Arabia were reintroduced into the wild as part of the World Oryx captive breeding program by the World Wildlife Fund and the Phoenix Zoo. (Treydte, et al. 2002). The Arabian Oryx Release Program was launched in 2007 in Abu Dhabi with a five-year plan (2007- 2012) aimed to reintroduce the Arabian Oryx into areas of its natural habitat in the UAE. The program aims to reintroduce the Arabian Oryx into large sanctuaries within the areas they lived in in the past and create self-contained populations that can roam freely in their natural habitat under effective, long-term management. The Arabian Oryx Protected Area, established in 2007 in Umm Al Zamool, AlGharbia, is now home to 155 Arabian Oryx, monitored via GPS and satellite tracking, across a protected area of 8,900 square kilometers. The UAE is home to the largest population of Arabian Oryx in the world - more than 3000 captive animals, 2000 of which are in Abu Dhabi and represents more than half the worlds estimated population (Source Arabia 2000, Jun 09, 2010) These successes contrast with the reintroduction of the oryx in Oman. That first re-introduction resulted in the establishment of a herd in excess of 450 oryx (Stanley Price, M.R., et al 1989). Poachers reduced the population of Oman’s huge, unfenced sanctuary from 450 animals in 1996 to just 65 in 2007. Of those, which only 4 were females. Additional bodies of females and young who died of injury and exhaustion during capture or subsequent transport were found dumped in the reserve. To save the remaining herd, Oman captured the free range herd and brought them into today’s far smaller, heavily guarded reserve with a much smaller confinement area which can be guarded by armed patrols. Although protected by law in all countries where it has been reintroduced, poaching has continued to be a problem. Understanding the success and failure of the Omani attempt to reestablish them in the wild is necessary in efforts to conserve them and for successful reintroductions. While other animals are poached for their horns, Arabian oryx was largely due to live capture of females and their young for private collections. The demand for captive animals in the Gulf states is currently the region’s greatest conservation problem. The poaching of female oryxes for private collections is expected to select high quality female specimens. Both male and femal oryxes grow paired horns that are symmetrical. Horns serve a protective purpose against wolves. I propose that radical surgical disfigurement of one horn of a female oryx would be a deterrent to live capture poaching for private collections. Disfigurement of just one horn would leave the oryx with one horn for defense. Oryx keep the same horns for life the horns thus any oryx with disfigurement of one horn would not appear symmetrical for her productive breeding years. The disfigured horn would not only make the oryx undesirable for a private collection, but would it would also be a clear mark of a poached, reserve female. Disfigurement should not affect the breeding of the female in the wild herd, and would be expected to significantly increase the reproductive success of the herd. Two control populations would be used. One group would be a herd released into the unfenced sanctuary areas with out disfigurement. The other group would be a herd released into same sanctuary areas with disfigurement of both males and females. The latter control group with the disfigured males would serve as a control of the base level of live capture poaching for private collections. Because only one dominant male is present in a herd, the number of males poached for private collections to establish a herd is lower than that of females. Poaching of males would be expected because breeding herds do require more than one non-breeding male to prevent lifelong antagonism between a breeding and a single non-breeding male in a herd. . METHODS Captive-breeding herds of 30 animals would be established and subjected to horn removal according to the procedure of Kock, M.D. and Atkinson, M.W. 1993 using the anesthesia protocol of Ostrowski, S. et al, 2002. Following a two month recovery, herds would be acclimated to a wild diet with water restriction for five months according to the procedure of Ostrowski S, et al, (2005). Herds would be fitted with radio collars and GPS tracking devices to allow tracking of individual animals according to the procedure of Ostrowski, S. et al, 2002. Test and control herds would be released into separate quadrants of the unfenced sanctuary reserve to allow them to establish territories and prevent mixing of herds. I will monitor the herds over a two-year period by tracking oryxes by locating their radio signals every 30 days and identifying individuals. I will monitor breeding status of females as described by Ostrowski, S. et al, 2002. I will attempt to minimize observation-stress by using the fact that during the day in summer oryxes lie in shade and forage only in the late evening and at night. Using a vehicle as a blind, I will observe near known shade trees around sunrise. When oryxes return from foraging to lie in the shade, I will count and monitor the condition and number of the animals in the herd. Females are expected to have one calf per year. Additional studies may be added include identifying offspring to monitor for live capture poaching of young males or females for private collections. I expect to see an increase in the reproductive success of the herds with disfigured females because fewer females would be sought and captured for private collections. If there is a difference in the loss of males between the disfigured and nondisfigured male herds, this would give a baseline to monitor of live capture poaching activity. Poaching for horns is expected to be indiscriminate between males and females and would not be expected to be affected by the disfigurement because of the price of the remaining horn. Horn poaching would be presumed if dehorned oryx bodies of either sex are found are abandoned on the unfenced sanctuary reserve. If significant horn poaching or poaching of intact males is observed, it may be necessary to stop this study and return the animals to the protected enclosures until further proactive measures can be developed. Results would be compared with the previous experience in Oman. The reproductive breeding success of the oryx population should be increased as disfigured females disproportionately remain in the herd and help reestablish the population and allow time for the population to recover. Poaching of animals hunted for their horns results in the killing of reproductive age animals of both sexes and has reduced populations to dangerously low numbers. In Namibia and Zimbabwe, where game wardens embarked on a project where rhinos are humanely dehorned to prevent poachers from finding the animals worth killing, some success was observed. However the dehorning process is laborious, expensive and itself stressful to the animals. Ultimately, the horns grew back and the process needed to be repeated. However, the reproductive success of the rhino increased with each breeding season that a dehorned animal remained alive (Kock, M.D. and Atkinson,M., 1994). I expect a similar result with the oryx. Approaches need to highlight the value of the animals to local inhabitants so that the animals are of more value to the local communities alive than dead. Countries now train and pay local inhabitants as "community game wardens" to ensure that the animals are not harmed. Many have previously earned a living through poaching, but now get it from people coming to look at them. In this case, local tribal communities would be compensated to assist in monitoring the movements of the herds. Tribal communities that are involved in preserving the oryx are expected to be less likely to participate in poaching activities. This would also help to reestablish the population of oryx in the wild. LITERATURE CITED Armstrong, Sue. "Nose Jobs save Namibian Rhinos." 1989. New Scientist: 32 Henderson, D. S. 1974. Were they the last Arabian oryx? Oryx 12:347–350. Loutit, B. and Montgomery, S. 1994. The Efficacy of Rhino Dehorning: Too Early to Tell! 1994, Conservation Biology: 8, pp 923-924. Kock, M.D. and Atkinson,M. Dehorning of Black (Diceros bicornis) and White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum): The Zimbabwean Experience. Proceedings of a Symposium on "Rhinos as Game Animals", Onderstepoort 9 and 10 September, 1994. Kock, M.D. and Atkinson, M.W. 1993. Report on Dehorning of black (Diceros bicornis) and White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) in Zimbabwe. Department of National Parks and Wild Life Mangement, Harare, Zimbabwe. Internal Report pp. 88. Ostrowski S, Williams JB, Mésochina P, Sauerwein H. J Comp Physiol B. 2006 Physiological acclimation of a desert antelope, Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), to long-term food and water restriction. Mar;176(3):191-201. Epub 2005 Nov 9. Ostrowski, S., Williams, J.B, Bedin, E. Ismail, K. 2002. Water Influx and Food Comsumption of Free-Living Oryxes (Oryx leucoryx) in the Arabian Desert in Summer. Journal of Mammalogy, 83(3):665–673. Ostrowski, S. E. Bedin, D. M. Lenain, and A. H. Abuzinada. 1998. Ten years of Arabian oryx conservation breeding in Saudi Arabia—achievements and regional perspectives. Oryx 32:209–222. Sack, K. 1992. Rhino Horn Import Ban http://www1.american.edu/TED/rhino.htm . Stanley Price, M. R. 1989. Animal re-introduction: the Arabian oryx in Oman. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Treydte, A. C., et. al. 2001. In search of the optimal management strategy for Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) in Mahazat as-Sayd, Saudi Arabia. Animal Conservation 4:239–249. Arabia 2000, (Jun 09, 2010) http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= nfh&AN=6FI4249146838&site=) Read More