Saharan Wildlife Recovery Center

Shifting Sands, Fading Footprints

The Sahara Desert and its fringe of short, dry grasslands (the Sahel) are home to a unique suite of species exquisitely adapted to life in this harsh, dry environment. Yet the Sahelo-Saharan region of North and West Africa is all too often overlooked and under-funded when it comes to conservation action. If you ask from where the largest mammal to go extinct in the last quarter century hails, most people immediately think about tropical rainforests, ocean reefs, or some other highly-publicized conservation "hotspot." Tragically, it is the Scimitar-horned oryx of the Sahelo-Saharan region that holds this dubious distinction. When a 300-lb antelope species that once roamed the desert in the tens of thousands can slip quietly into extinction without the world taking note, it is time for a wake-up call.

Following in the Oryx's Footsteps?

An alarming number of species are following in the fading footprints of the Scimitar-horned oryx towards extinction. The large white addax antelope, king of the deep desert, now numbers less than 500 in the wild. Dama gazelles are now found only in tiny herds scattered in a few isolated areas of the Sahelo-Saharan region. Cuvier's gazelles, Slender-horn gazelles and Barbary sheep have all been severely depleted. The desert race of the cheetah, never numerous in pristine times, clings tenuously to survival in remote areas of the Sahara. Even the desert race of the Red-necked ostrich has been exterminated across 95% of its former Saharan range.

Big Place, Big Opportunities

The Sahara is a big place: three million square miles. While habitat degradation is an issue in some parts of the Sahelo-Saharan region, unlike most areas under threat, there are literally millions of acres of good habitat still available for wildlife, with perhaps the lowest density of human population found in and around any conservation hotspot in the world. The most immediate problem facing Saharn wildlife today is the unregulated and unsustainable hunting that occurs in a vacuum of conservation planning for the region. With the right kind of technical and material support, win-win solutions can be found that allow for sustainable use of wildlife and a rational plan for managing the Sahara's natural treasures.

Raising Our Voice in the Desert

The Saint Louis Zoo's Saharan Wildlife Recovery Center is one of the lead voices in a growing chorus raising awareness about the Sahara's silent crisis of extinction. Its mission is to link zoo expertise and resources with meaningful conservation action in the Sahara. What we do with our Saharan species in zoos today will have a tremendous influence on these species' futures in the wild. Our program of work includes activities such as helping to launch the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF), the only non-governmental organization devoted to conserving Sahelo-Saharan wildlife; addax and Scimitar-horned oryx reintroduction in Tunisia using zoo-bred animals; supporting a local ostrich recovery program in Niger; collecting baseline scientific data on Saharan wildlife through support of field surveys in Mali, Niger and Algeria.

Raising the Flag Here at Home

The Saint Louis Zoo is home to some of the AZA's key Saharan wildlife breeding programs: the Addax SSP; the Scimitar-horned Oryx SSP; the Cheetah SSP; the Fennec Fox SSP. The Zoo also participates in the AZA's breeding programs for Mhorr gazelles and Cuvier's gazelles.