Shawmari Wildlife Reserve, De Zarka, Governorate, Jordan

Shawmari Wildlife Reserve, De Zarka, Governorate, Jordan 

Shaumari Wildlife Reserve was initially created as a breeding center aiming to breed and reintroduce the globally threatened and locally extinct wildlife and specifically the Arabian Oryx Oryx leucoryx. In 1978, joined by international efforts, RSCN initiated the Arabian Oryx rescue operation after receiving 4 Oryx animals from the Phoenix Zoo, USA, into specially prepared breeding enclosures in Shaumari Reserve, in an attempt to return the Arabian Oryx to its native desert habitat. By 1983, this operation met its first success, after the release of 31 Arabian Oryx from captivity into their native habitats within the reserve.

Shaumari Wildlife Reserve is now home to some of the rarest species of animals in the Middle East, such as Ostriches Struthio camelus, Goitered Gazelles Gazella subgutturosa and Persian Onagers Equus hemionus. RSCN has exerted great effort to help these animals rebuild their populations and reassert their presence within the safety of the reserve, protected from the hunting and habitat destruction that nearly wiped them out.

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