Presented during the 17h Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting organized by the NGO Sahara Conservation Fund in Senegal, from 4 to 6 May 2017. The Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) gathers every year about a hundred people who are interested in the field of Sahelo-Saharan species conservation.

1. 17th Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting
2 days of talks on biodiversity conservation in the Sahara and in the Sahel
Data Tools for conservation monitoring
Katherine MERTES, Conservation Biologist - Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
May 4 – 6, 2017

2. Post-release monitoring of Scimitar-horned
oryx reintroduced to the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi
Achim Game Reserve, Chad

3. - An animal's decision to move is a
response to both internal (hunger,
thirst) and external (food abundance,
temperature) conditions
- Animals do not move simply to
change their geographic location, but
to change the conditions
associated with their location
- GPS collars record these movement
decisions, collecting large numbers of
locations over time
- From these movement data, patterns
of space use emerge

5. Oryx released August 2016
• Multiple institutions,
multiple management
backgrounds
• Released during wet
season
Oryx released January
2017
• Single institution with pen-
based management
• Released during dry
season

10. Next questions
• Natural and optimal movement strategies for
oryx in this system?
• Migration vs. residency
• Area requirements?
• individuals, groups, viable populations
• How well do reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx
track local and/or regional variation in peak
vegetation growth?
• Follow, surf, jump IRG
• Are oryx movement paths determined by local
conditions or spatial memory?
• Track energy expenditure over time since
release
• gains in energy efficiency over time?
• Identify times or places in which oryx increase
energy expenditure
• dangerous areas, stressful seasons, etc.
T. Wacher,
ZSL

11. Oryx movement data (to date)
• 33 collared individuals
• 2 collar failures
• >150,000 locations
• Released animals have moved
over 10,000km2
• Moved >90km from release site
• Group sizes from 1-16
individuals