North African ostrich

In the 1990s, mtDNA analyses control region haplotypes revealed that the Arabian ostrich from Western Asia is closely related to the North African ostrich.

In 2017, the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany discovered that common ostriches used to live in India about 25,000 years ago. DNA research on eleven fossilised eggshells from eight archaeological sites in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh found 92% genetic similarity between the eggshells and the North African ostrich.{{cite news|title=Ostriches lived in India once|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ostriches-lived-in-india-once/article17438046.ece|author=R. Prasad|newspaper=The Hindu|date=10 March 2017|access-date=11 May 2017}}{{cite news|title=Ostriches lived in India 25,000 yrs ago: BSIP study|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/ostriches-lived-in-india-25000-yrs-ago-bsip-study/articleshow/57565265.cms|newspaper=The Times of India|date=10 March 2017|access-date=11 May 2017}}

The North African ostrich is the largest subspecies of S. camelus, at {{cvt|2.74|m}} in height and up to {{cvt|154|kg}} in weight. The neck is pinkish-red, the plumage of males is black and white, and the plumage of females is gray.{{cite book|title=Flightless Birds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sb1IJYzXZhUC&pg=PT45|page=26|author=Clive Roots|date=2006| publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn = 9780313335457|access-date=4 May 2015}}

The North African ostrich was widespread from western to northeastern Africa. It used to range from Ethiopia and Sudan in the east throughout the Sahel to Senegal and Mauritania in the west, and north to Egypt and southern Morocco. It has now disappeared from large parts of this range and it only remains in 6 of the 18 countries where it originally occurred. This subspecies may also have occurred in the Sinai Peninsula, where Arabian ostriches once lived. North African ostriches can be found in open fields and the savannahs, especially in the Sahel of Africa.{{cite journal|title=Severe decline of large birds in the Northern Sahel of West Africa: a long-term assessment|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=584244&fileId=S0959270906000487|journal=Bird Conservation International|date=December 2006| doi=10.1017/S0959270906000487 |access-date=4 May 2015 | last1=Thiollay | first1=Jean-Marc | volume=16 | issue=4 | pages=353–365 }}

The North African ostrich had dramatically declined to the point where it is now included on CITES Appendix I and some treat it as Critically Endangered.Sahara Conservation Fund: {{cite web |url=http://www.saharaconservation.org/spip.php?page=project&id_article=36 |title=Ostrich Conservation, Niger |access-date=2017-03-29 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820040150/http://www.saharaconservation.org/spip.php?page=project&id_article=36 |archivedate=August 20, 2010 }} The North African ostrich is part of a project by the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) with the aim of saving the subspecies from extinction and restore its populations in its former ranges in the Sahara and the Sahel.

File:Ostrich in Waza Park.jpg, Cameroon.]]

The North African ostrich was the most widespread subspecies of ostrich. It formerly had an extensive range but is now thought to live in fragmented pockets in Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic and Senegal, whilst extinct in most of its range in northern Africa. Reintroduction projects for the ostriches have begun, especially in northern Sahara, where North African ostriches had been extinct for 50 years. Ostriches were imported from Chad and reintroduced to Souss-Massa National Park in Morocco.{{cite web | url = http://www.magornitho.org/2013/05/ostrich-reintroduction-sahara/ | title = Red-necked Ostrich reintroduced to the Sahara after 50 years | date = 24 May 2013 | access-date = 17 October 2016 | publisher = Wordpress}}

In Tunisia, North African ostriches were once common in the southern region of the country. The subspecies had been extirpated since 1887. In 2014, North African ostriches were finally returned to Tunisia after 127 years of being extinct. The birds were first reintroduced to Dghoumès National Park. They were then reintroduced to Sidi Toui National Park, and then to Orbata Faunal Reserve.{{cite web|title=The return of the long lost North-African ostrich to Tunisia|date=21 March 2015 |url=https://www.marwell.org.uk/conservation/news/6/the-return-of-the-long-lost-north-african-ostrich-to-tunisia|publisher=Marwell Wildlife|access-date=16 December 2015}}{{cite book|title=Reintroduction and conservation of North African / red-necked ostrich, Struthio camelus camelus, to protected areas in southern Tunisia|url=https://www.marwell.org.uk/cms-assets/documents/225595-796261.ostrich-report-and-proposal-2015.pdf|author1=Tim Woodfine, Marie Petretto |author2=Tanya Langenhorst |publisher=Marwell Wildlife|date=April 2015|access-date=4 January 2016}}

It is planned that the red-necked ostrich will also recover in other countries from western to northeastern Africa, such as Niger and Nigeria.{{cite web|title=NORTH AFRICAN OSTRICH RECOVERY IN NIGER|url=http://www.zoo.org/conservation/ostrichrecovery#.VopIblLXFn5|publisher=Woodland Park Zoo|access-date=4 January 2016}}

The North African ostrich is the closest relative to the extinct Arabian ostrich from Western Asia. Following analyses of mtDNA control region haplotypes that confirmed the close relationship of the Arabian and the North African subspecies, the North African subspecies was considered suitable for introduction into areas where the Arabian subspecies used to live.{{cite journal |author1=Freitag, Stephanie |author2=Robinson, Terence J. |name-list-style=amp |year= 1993|title= Phylogeographic patterns in mitochondrial DNA of the Ostrich (Struthio camelus)|journal= The Auk|volume= 110|issue= 3|pages= 614–622|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v110n03/p0614-p0622.pdf |doi= 10.2307/4088425|jstor=4088425 }}

In 1988–89, the ostriches, originally taken from Sudan, were introduced to National Wildlife Research Center in Saudi Arabia. A reintroduction project using the North African ostriches was set up at Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area in 1994. Currently, it is estimated that 90 to 100 individuals are living within the reserve. It was proposed that the North African ostriches should also reintroduced to Al-Khunfah Protected Area.{{cite book | author1 = M. Zafar-ul Islam | author2 = Ahmed Boug | author3 = Mohammed Shobrak | year = 2008 | editor = Pritpal S. Soorae | chapter = Conservation Status of reintroduced red-necked ostrich in Mahazat as-Sayd, Saudi Arabia | title = Global Re-introduction Perspectives: Re-introduction Case-studies from Around the Globe | publisher = IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group | isbn = 978-2831711133}}

It also has been reintroduced in the Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve in Israel as well and some will eventually be released in open fields of the Negev desert.{{cite journal |author1=Robinson, Terence J. |author2=Matthee, Conrad A. |name-list-style=amp |year= 1999|title= Molecular genetic relationships of the extinct ostrich, Struthio camelus syriacus: consequences for ostrich introductions into Saudi Arabia|journal= Animal Conservation|volume= 2|issue= 3|pages= 165–171 |doi= 10.1111/j.1469-1795.1999.tb00062.x|bibcode=1999AnCon...2..165R |s2cid=85959044 }} However, the reintroduction failed, as the reintroduced ostriches vanished. It is thought that the vanished species may have left Israel for Egypt. The reintroduction project for the ostriches was on hiatus, but the authority might try again in the future. It is hoped that Jordan and Egypt would collaborate with Israel to ensure that the ostriches can live in a broader range.{{cite news|title=The Bitter Fate of Ostriches in the Wild|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2007-12-25/ty-article/the-bitter-fate-of-ostriches-in-the-wild/0000017f-db5a-db5a-a57f-db7af66d0000|author=Zafrir Rinat|newspaper=Haaretz|date=25 December 2007|access-date=28 May 2022}}

File:Paignton , Paignton Zoo, Ostriches - geograph.org.uk - 1484799.jpg, United Kingdom]]

North African ostriches in captivity are mostly breeding populations in European and Middle Eastern zoos, such as Hanover, Hamburg, and Paignton Zoo.

{{Commons category|Struthio camelus camelus}}

{{Wikispecies|Struthio camelus camelus}}

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{{Taxonbar|from=Q3976170}}

North African ostrich

North African ostrich

Category:Birds of the Sahel

Category:Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Category:Ostriches