Fringe-eared oryx in Tarangire
Aug 14th, 2006, 10:04 AM
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Fringe-eared oryx in Tarangire
Are fringe-eared oryxes disappearing from Tarangire? or from the entire northern Tanznia for that matter? More than a decade ago, the oryx count was 1,000+ in the greater Tarangire ecosystem. The lastest Tanzania Tourist Board brochure states that they are now "rarely seen" in Tarangire. For those who have visited Tarangire recently(or other northern Tanzanian areas such as Sinya or Mkomazi), please let me know where exactly you spotted them. Thanks.
Aug 14th, 2006, 02:14 PM
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The park brochure for Tarangire mentions Oryx, so we asked our guide what our chances of seeing one were. He said that in 8 years of guiding the Northern Circuit, he had never seen an Oryx in Tarangire. He thinks it might be the hunting that drove them out.
Aug 14th, 2006, 02:20 PM
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They don't occur in the Mara, so it must have been in Tarangire. In any case, the responses do suggest that they are much more rare than before in northern Tanzania. They are fairly nomadic, and they tend to move out of Tarangire during the wet season where they are poached for meat and trophy. In a sense, the oryx population is a good gage for human activity outside of the park. On the Ndarakwai Ranch website, they state that the oryx is locally extinct. I saw four different herds in Tarangire in '95 from a two night stay at Swala Camp. I will be back there next year, and I hope to see them again.
Aug 16th, 2006, 04:42 AM
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We saw one limping oryx with a group of zebras in Tarangire on July 25 this year in the area of the Poacher's Hide tree, we think (cameras/diary all in delayed baggage). No other sightings there or in Ngorongoro or Central/Southern Serengeti.
Sep 25th, 2006, 12:43 AM
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Oryx are indeed disappearing from much of Tanzania. There is a population in the South Maasai Steppe - including Tarangire, but numbers are reduced and you need to by lucky to find them. Other populations exist in the Rift Valley - Natron & Engaruka, as well as Sale Plains in North Eastern Ngorongoro Conservation area. They are of course hunted (legally and illegally) and often females are mistakenly shot as males (both can have spectacular horns), however, I believe that the largest pressure on oryx is loss of habitat. Oryx are day-time grazers and are thus in direct competition with cattle. Once gone from these areas it is unlikely that they can ever come back.
Sep 25th, 2006, 11:50 PM
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I just got back from Kenya and Tanzania. A full report will follow. I was fortunate to see a herd of fringe-eared oryx at Campi Ya Kanzi. Despite a huge area of suitable habitat at Kanzi, they are now only found in one low-lying area. Åll of the locals in Kenya tell me that they are much rarer now. I have heard that the best place to see them might be around Finch-Hattens In Tsavo. Anybody been there and see them?
The situation is perhaps worse in Tanzania. Locals told me that they have not seen them in West Kilimanjaro (Sinya, Ndarakwai, etc.), where they once thrived. Tarangire, once their major stronghold, may have only a handfull left. They are no longer seen regularly, if at all, in the north of the park.
One interesting problem is that the fringe-eared oryx is one of the few wild animals that the Maasais will hunt and eat (not all the Maasais but some of them). They employ their dogs in the hunt. The oryxes will flee at first but invariably turn around to confront them -- at which time, the Maasai close in on them and spear them.
What a shame. It is such a beautiful animal -- and definitely distinctive from its more numerous cousin, the Beisa oryx.
Pixelpower, the oryx in Chobe are gemsbok (Oryx Gazella). I very much doubt you saw them near the Zambezi as they are only occasional vagrants into southern Chobe during extremely dry times. You may be confusing them with roan antelope, which have similar facial markings. Fortunately, the gemsbok are plentiful in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
Fodorites, please let us keep track of the disappearing fringe-eared oryx!
The situation is perhaps worse in Tanzania. Locals told me that they have not seen them in West Kilimanjaro (Sinya, Ndarakwai, etc.), where they once thrived. Tarangire, once their major stronghold, may have only a handfull left. They are no longer seen regularly, if at all, in the north of the park.
One interesting problem is that the fringe-eared oryx is one of the few wild animals that the Maasais will hunt and eat (not all the Maasais but some of them). They employ their dogs in the hunt. The oryxes will flee at first but invariably turn around to confront them -- at which time, the Maasai close in on them and spear them.
What a shame. It is such a beautiful animal -- and definitely distinctive from its more numerous cousin, the Beisa oryx.
Pixelpower, the oryx in Chobe are gemsbok (Oryx Gazella). I very much doubt you saw them near the Zambezi as they are only occasional vagrants into southern Chobe during extremely dry times. You may be confusing them with roan antelope, which have similar facial markings. Fortunately, the gemsbok are plentiful in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
Fodorites, please let us keep track of the disappearing fringe-eared oryx!
Jan 5th, 2007, 06:22 PM
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I recently read a report by a researcher in Tanzania. The fringe-eared oryx game count was about 2,000 in the greater Tarangire ecosystem (including Lolkisale and Simanjiro plains to the east) in '95. The 2005 count came out to be a mere 171. Stunning!
Anyone see any last year in Tanzania? Julian, are you still banned?
Anyone see any last year in Tanzania? Julian, are you still banned?
Jan 5th, 2007, 07:24 PM
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I spent 3 nights in Tarangire in August
2006 didnt see any oryxes BUT I saw a lot of hunting activity especially between Naitolia and Treetops
The peopple I saw were on a hunting safari driving around in Land cruisers
and armed to the hilt
They had just shot a buffalo below
Treetops and I believe were trying to hunt leopard according to the staff at the lodge where I stayed
Is it any wonder that oryxes and other animals are slowly disappearing from the Tarangire eco-system.
Does anybody know when the hunting will stop in this area?
2006 didnt see any oryxes BUT I saw a lot of hunting activity especially between Naitolia and Treetops
The peopple I saw were on a hunting safari driving around in Land cruisers
and armed to the hilt
They had just shot a buffalo below
Treetops and I believe were trying to hunt leopard according to the staff at the lodge where I stayed
Is it any wonder that oryxes and other animals are slowly disappearing from the Tarangire eco-system.
Does anybody know when the hunting will stop in this area?
