Parks & Reserves: ‘Uruq Bani Ma'arid Protected Area

"Situated in the western edge of [Saudi Arabia's "Empty Quarter,] is ‘Uruq Bani Ma’arid, one of the Kingdom's largest protected areas measuring some 12,000 square kilometers, offering a stunning desert landscape full with diverse wildlife. Established by royal decree in 1995, ‘Uruq Bani Ma’arid is currently state-owned and managed by the Saudi Wildlife Authority . . . The core region of ‘Uruq Bani Ma’arid is its natural reserve, home to several a diversity of wildlife such as birds, foxes, rabbits, lizards, snakes, hedgehogs, and more. Famously, wild Arabian oryx were known to dwell in the region till their extinction in the early 1970s. Since 1995, zoos and private reserves have successfully reintroduced a total of 143 oryx into the wild. Other iconic animals that historically dwelled in the Arabian Desert, which include desert gazelles, and ostriches, have been reintroduced as well." In 2020, The Saudi Wildlife Authority declared the protected area the first model reserve in the Kingdom.