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Oryx dammah

The dammah oryx is a large robust antelope, Sahelo-Saharan, belonging to the subfamily Hippotraginae, family Boviae, the body is cream colored darkening towards a reddish brown on the head, neck, lower shoulders and upper legs, with long horn (80 to 150 cm) characteristics, streaked with their tapered points and widely arched towards the rear. Formerly, it occupied the whole of North Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa, between the Atlantic and the Nile since the year 2000 this species is officially extinct in the wild according to the IUCN red list as also appears in annex one of the CITES convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora. At the national level, this species is protected under Law No. 06-14 of November 14, 2006 approving Ordinance No. 06-15 of July 15, 2006, relating to the protection and preservation of certain species threatened with extinction. The presence of the oryx in the Mediterranean-Saharan zone of Algeria is not documented beyond the Roman era, however, the extreme south of Algeria, notably the south-east of Tanezrouft and the south-west of Tassili, was part of the migration area of ​​Oryx populations until the 1960s. The only nucleus existing in Algeria, bringing together more than twenty individuals, located at the Algiers zoological and leisure park. Consideration of the reintroduction of the oryx is underway, in particular its rehabilitation at a development station for Sahe-Saharan antelopes in the south of the country.