Riyadh, 17 December 2025: In a milestone for its mission to ReWild Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve has reintroduced the Critically Endangered Red-necked ostrich, known in ancient times as the “camel bird”, to the Reserve as a biological replacement for the extinct Arabian (Syrian) ostrich.
The Arabian ostrich (Struthio camelus syriacus) was once widespread across the deserts of Arabia but was driven to extinction in the early 20th century due to overhunting and habitat loss. The Red-necked ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus), also known as the North African or Barbary ostrich, theclosest remaining genetic relative of the Arabian ostrich, has been selected for reintroduction based on its biological similarity and ability to survive in arid desert environments.
The founder population of five Red-necked ostrich has been reintroduced to the Reserve as part of its ambitious board-approved rewilding programme to restore historical levels of biodiversity across its 24,500 km² terrestrial and marine area. The ostrich is the 12th of 23 historically occurring species being reintroduced as part of the Reserve’s long-term ecosystem restoration strategy.
Andrew Zaloumis, CEO of Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve, said “The return of ‘camel birds’ to their historic rangelands supports the restoration of desert ecosystems shaped historically by large grazing and browsing species. Ecosystems can only be considered fully restored when lost species, or their ecological equivalents, are returned. This is why we consider the return of the Red-necked ostrich a landmark step towards the Reserve’s restoration and the establishment of a founder population for Saudi Arabia’s national breeding and restoration programmes.”
The reintroduction is part of the Reserve’s ongoing partnership with the National Center for Wildlifeand fellow Royal Reserves, supporting the commitments of Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative to enhance biodiversity, restore desert ecosystems, and protect 30 percent of the Kingdom’s land and sea by 2030.
Historically, the Arabian ostrich ranged across the deserts of the Middle East, living alongside herds of the now-extinct Saudi gazelle (Gazella saudiya) and the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx). The Roman author Pliny the Elder referred to ostrich as the “camel bird’’ in his encyclopaedic work Natural History, written almost 2,000 years ago, for their physical resemblance from afar and their ability to withstand the harsh desert environment. They were also revered in Arabic poetry for their speed and strength and were so culturally significant that they were described by more than 150 different names in classical literature.
Evidence of their former presence can still be found throughout the modern-day Reserve, where sandstone petroglyphs depict ostrich herds and hunting scenes. Combined with modern science and osteological finds, these historical records and petroglyphs have helped establish the ecological baseline that informs the Reserve’s restoration strategy to restore the species that once shaped these landscapes.
Today, wild Red-necked ostrich are listed as Critically Endangered with fewer than 1,000 individuals estimated to remain, existing in scattered pockets across Africa’s Sahel region.Well known for their speed, feathers and flamboyant mating displays, ostrich are essential ecosystem engineers, playing a significant role in seed dispersal, insect control and maintaining healthy rangeland habitats for other species.
Their return to the Reserve strengthens the Kingdom’s commitment to restoring ostrich to their historical range, building on the success of national breeding and restoration programmes led by the National Center for Wildlife in collaboration with Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Nature Reserve, Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve, Aramco, NEOM and AlUla.