Addax
Addax nasomaculatus
Seen by the oracleIts power
It can live its whole life without drinking once. All its water comes from desert plants.
Estimated wild population
Fewer than 100 in the wild
Trend
Critically declining (almost extinct in the wild)
Range
Central Sahara (Niger / Chad)
Main threat
Too much hunting in the past, loss of desert habitat, conflicts with farming
Meet it
It really exists. It is waiting for you at the Parc Animalier d’Auvergne.
The addax is a large white desert antelope, perfectly suited to extreme conditions. Its wide, flat hooves let it walk on sand without sinking, and its coat turns white in summer to reflect the heat. It once roamed across thousands of square kilometres, and it hardly ever needs to drink: it gets all its water from plants. It used to be common all over the Sahara, but hunting from motor vehicles wiped most of them out during the 20th century. Today, fewer than 100 are thought to be left in the wild, in a small area of Niger and Chad. Captive breeding programmes and reintroductions in North Africa are its main hopes for survival.
What the Park does
Intensive captive breeding, reintroductions in Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal, listed in CITES Appendix I