Ten Triple X Ranch Proudly Joins Source Population Alliance (SPA)
The Ten Triple X Ranch proudly announces its membership into the Source Population Alliance (SPA), a program of the Conservation Centers for Species Survival (C2S2). The SPA is a groundbreaking initiative, connecting both private and public sectors to build healthy, adaptable populations for the survival of species. Members of the SPA dedicate their unique resources to creating sustainable populations of wildlife that serve as dependable reservoirs for the conservation and use of animals in captivity and in the wild. The incredible efforts made through these partnerships could single-handedly give hope to the long-term survival of countless threatened species. With the ultimate goal of reintroducing critically endangered species into their native habitats, C2S2 and the SPA have an enormous responsibility and obligation to preserving wildlife and nature. With a similar commitment to conserving land and wildlife, Ten Triple X is honored to dedicate addax and scimitar-horned oryx to this pioneering organization. With 50% of mammal populations declining, our animals and others within the SPA, give a secured population that could potentially be the last hope for survival of these African hoofstock species.
Addax
ADDAX NASOMACULATUS
Beginning in 2008, addax were declared critically endangered by the IUCN with an estimate of less than 100 individuals left in the wild. Formerly widespread in the Sahelo-Saharan region of Africa, an aerial survey in March 2016 located only three living animals in the Termit Tin Toumma region of Niger. The primary factors causing this rapid decline are uncontrolled hunting/poaching, drought, and the extension of pastoralism into desert lands. With an estimate of over 5,000 individuals located in private collections and ranches across the United States and the Middle East, there is hope for Addax. Previously, small addax populations have been released into fenced enclosures within Tunisia and Morocco. The SPA hopes to continue these successful reintroductions and potentially move forward by releasing self-sustaining populations into the wild, giving hope to the survival of in-situ (wild) Addax population.
Scimitar-horned oryx
ORYX DAMMAH
Due to overhunting and significant habitat loss, including competition with domestic livestock, the scimitar-horned oryx has been fundamentally extinct in the wild since 2000. Native to the Sahel and sub-desert zones of North Sengal, Chad, and Niger, there have been no confirmed evidence of survival for this oryx species since the early 1990s. However, with an incredible 11,000 scimitar-horned oryx estimated to reside on Texas Ranches alone, there is hope for this species. Unfortunately, it is believed that all these individuals are descendants of 40-50 founders, originating from Chad. Because of this low founder number, it is likely that the proportion of genetic diversity represented within U.S. populations is relatively low. Nevertheless, multiple semi-wild (fenced) reintroduction programs in Tunisia, Senegal, and Morocco have been successful. Currently, a large-scale reintroduction is under way on a protected reserve in Chad. If this reintroduction proves successful, the SPA will have significant support to begin new reintroduction programs in the hopes of bringing this species back from the brink of extinction.
