The oryx is one of the most perfectly desert-adapted large mammals, capable of living in a waterless wasteland where few other species can survive. They can exist for weeks without water and their body temperature can rise to 113 degrees without having to pant. Water is obtained by eating plants. The Arabian oryx eat mainly at night when the plants are most succulent after absorbing nighttime humidity. During times of drought, oryx will dig for roots and tubers in order to obtain needed moisture. .

  They became extinct in the wild in 1972 and were reintroduced in Oman in 1982.  Since 1996 they have been so ravished by poachers they may be facing a second extinction.

The Arabian oryx has a white coat with black markings on its face and its legs are dark brown to black.  Its predominantly white coat reflects the suns heat in summer and in winter the hairs on its back rise to attract and catch the suns warmth.  They have broad hooves for walking great distances on loose gravel and sand. Lance like, 3 foot long horns are weapons used for defense as well as for fighting.

Arabian Oryx

Oryx leucoryx

SSP