In March this year, as the clouds drifted over the desert in the south-east of Abu Dhabi, a distinguished group of senior Abu Dhabi officials came together for a major event - not for a falconry expedition, or for exploring the deep dunes, but for the realisation of one of the dreams of the late President, Sheikh Zayed.

The occasion, in which participants included H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, was the formal release of a herd of 100 Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx, some forty years after this graceful member of the gazelle family became extinct in the wild. 

The project, organised by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, EAD, is the first step in plans by the Agency, assisted by the Al Ain Zoo, to re-establish a self-sustaining wild population of oryx that will be able to survive in specially-designated protected areas of Abu Dhabi. 

Over the next four years, a hundred more captive-born oryxes, chosen from stock at Al Ain Zoo and from private collections, will be released during the cooler months throughout Abu Dhabi's deserts. 

Once released, the oryxes are watched over and guarded by EAD's Desert Rangers, to ensure that they are not disturbed. 

In the initial stages of the programme, thirty shelters and feeding stations have been installed in the release area, though these will gradually be removed as the animals learn again to depend on the natural environment, as they did in the past for thousands of years. 

The project is the culmination of a long-held dream of the late Sheikh Zayed. In the 1960s, recognising that hunting was threatening to wipe out the last wild stock of Arabian oryxes, he arranged for two pairs to be captured, these then forming the nucleus of the breeding population at Al Ain Zoo. A conservationist long before the term became well-known, he was determined to ensure that this majestic inhabitant of Arabia's deserts should not be driven to extinction. 

Today, thanks to successful captive breeding programmes, both in the Zoo and in private collections, such as that on the island of Sir Bani Yas, there are around 4,000 Arabian oryxes in the Emirates, out of a world population of around 6,000. 

Able to survive without access to fresh water in the harsh deserts of the pensinsula, the Arabian oryx has long been a symbol of Arabia. Carvings depicting oryxes can be found on the Hili Tomb in Al Ain, over four thousand years old, while its graceful horns, which can seem like a single horn when seen from afar, are believed to have given rise to the legend of the unicorn. 

Thanks to its graceful, almost dance-like, movements, the oryx has long been a source of inspiration for Arab poets, who oftenused it metaphorically to compare with their loved one. Its large compelling eyes prompted the 13th Century poet Ibn Al Farid to ask: "Have you seen a lion slain by the glance of an oryx or a gazelle?" 

Today, Arabian oryxes run free in the deserts of Abu Dhabi once more - a remarkable achievement. This success, though, is not purely about the oryx. In protecting an area of suitable habitat, covering several hundred square kilometres, EAD has also ensured that the whole range of biodiversity of the area is also preserved, including its plants, sand gazelles, another endangered species that lives in the same habitat, other small mammals and reptiles as well as the resident and migrant birds that make use of the area throughout the year. 

The Arabian oryx is, therefore, a flagship species for conservation. By releasing them back into the wild, EAD is demonstrating its commitment to protect the whole variety of Abu Dhabi's wildlife - a commitment it is determined to uphold in the years ahead. 

Laila Al Hassan is the Acting Head of Media and
Publications at the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi