All you need to know about King Khalid’s Center in Al Thumama
The King Khalid Wildlife Research Center is located in Al Thumama near the escarpment of Tuwaiq Mountain, 70 km north of Riyadh. The center was established in 1987 in King Khalid Farm, from which it gained the name. This farm housed more than 600 different wild animals in fences exceeding 600 hectares. Since its inception, the center has been working on the management and development of the wildlife, which constitutes an important part of the Kingdom's natural heritage, and this group of animals was the first nucleus to start the wildlife conservation program. This group included Arabian Oryx, Arabian sand gazelle, and Mountain gazelle in addition to the Neuman’s gazelle. In 2004 a small group of Farasan gazelle were brought to establish a breeding program. In 2005, a group of Ibex was brought and the Ibex propagation nucleus was established in the center.
- - Arabian Sand Gazelle breeding program.
- - Arabian Mountain Gazelle breeding program.
- - Neuman’s gazelle breeding program.
- - Nubian Ibex breeding program.
- - Arabian Oryx breeding program.
- - Farasan gazelle breeding program
Breeding programs at the King Khalid Center for Wildlife Research at Al Thumama - conservation breeding of endangered faunal species:
About King Khalid’s Center
- 1. The Center is at the forefront of global conservation efforts specialized in ungulates research and breeding for conservation and reintroduction into natural range at protected areas and national parks.
- 2. The center serves as reserve store of endangered antelopes and supports the most genetically diverse populations of endemic mammals in the Arabian Peninsula. The center adopts globally accepted standards for conservation breeding to support rewilding efforts within the Kingdom and in neighboring countries.
- 3. The Center adopts excellent record keeping standards, shared on global databases, with regards to the genealogy of all species housed.
- 4. The center takes the lead with regards to animal welfare, disease prevention, nutrition, and genetics.
- 5. Once of the centres key endeavors is to conduct research on captive bred animals and in protected areas, contributing to improved reintroduction success and wildlife management practice.
- 6. Since its establishment, the centre has preserved more than 150,000 biological samples, collected from various regions and archived using globally accepted protocols. These samples are an invaluable source of scientific information for genetic, pathological and other research.
- 7. The center maintains a database of all animals in the center since its establishment, which helps in preserving genealogical records for species.
- 8. The Center has trained a large number of Saudi nationals, who specialize in wildlife conservation and protected area management, on applied conservation science.
- 9. In order to raising environmental awareness and promote community participation, the center co-ordinates events such as visits by schools, universities and other institutions.
- 10. The center collaborates with local and international scientific entities, specialized in the field of wildlife conservation, to share experiences and foster scientific research.