Two weeks after the first birth of a sword-horned antelope at the Debrecen Zoo, another small antelope was born in the Great Forest on March 25, the director of the institution said.
According to Sándor Gergely Nagy’s announcement, Karibo is falling apart, and it is becoming more and more common to get to know his surroundings and his ten-year-old partner, Kellan, under the care of his mother.
After reaching adulthood, the offspring will move to another zoo under the European Species Conservation Breeding Program (EEP), but this year visitors will still be able to follow the Africa Panorama line, said the director, noting that the specimens are only extinct in Debrecen. can be seen in Hungary.
The sword-horned antelope (Oryx dammah), once widespread throughout North Africa, is named after its saber-curving horn. Its physique and nutrition have adapted well to desert and semi-desert habitats and possible water shortages: it does not start sweating even at a body temperature of 46 degrees, so it can survive for months without drinking water, utilizing only the moisture content of the grass we eat. It is led by bulls, which are dominated by nature, and forms herds of up to 40 people, which migrate for hundreds of kilometers in search of a suitable pasture, explained Gergely Sándor Nagy.
He added that the reason for the disappearance of the species from its natural habitat is the loss of habitat and food shortages due to grazing and excessive hunting. In addition to its wild-extinct classification according to the IUCN Red List, it is also listed in Appendix I of the Washington Convention (CITES), which provides protection against international trade.
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