Discover the exciting world of wildlife conservation in Qatar

Qatar's conservation efforts come alive at the Al Maha Sanctuary, situated a mere 30 minutes west of Doha. This government-run wildlife reserve is a haven for the Arabian oryx, which was on the brink of extinction in the 1970s.

"We try to protect them from excessive human interaction because we are in the process of re-wildisation," says Andrea Dogliero, a veterinary doctor at the Al Maha Sanctuary. 

The oryx's journey to recovery has been a tumultuous one. Fifty years ago, the species was declared extinct in the wild. Their restoration has been a result of an international conservation plan, Operation Oryx, which aimed to safely reintroduce the species back into a managed wildlife population.

Idmour Merza, another veterinary doctor at the sanctuary, explains the challenges in maintaining a healthy population. "The female oryx has a gestation period of almost nine months. So, they cannot produce more than one calf in one year. And I'm guessing they [past generations of hunters in the Middle East] used to hunt [oryxes] in the hundreds during the hunting season. So, if you make a simple calculation, the oryx simply wouldn't be able to keep up the pace with the rate of the hunting."

However, conservationists' efforts are paying off, with around 3,000 to 3,500 Arabian Oryxes under Dogliero's care at the Al Maha Sanctuary and an estimated 18,000 spread across the country. 

"The goal of this country, like all the Middle East, is to see the Arabian oryx, these species, these symbolic animals again into the wild because there is no point in keeping breeding them," says Dogliero, reflecting on the journey from critical endangerment to a stage of vulnerability due to successful conservation efforts.

In this arduous journey of wildlife