Over-utilisation of rangelands and excessive hunting have extirpated most larger mammal species in the Kingdom. Notoriously harsh environmental conditions, an increasing human population and competition with large free-ranging herds of domestic stock - mainly camels - further exacerbate the plight of wildlife in Saudi Arabia. The National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development established a system of protected areas and captive breeding programmes for gazelles, Arabian oryx and houbara bustard for re-introduction to suitable, managed protected areas. The King Khalid Wildlife Research Centre (KKWRC), located approximately 80 kilometres north of Riyadh, is a breeding centre for Mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) and Arabian Sand gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa marica). Animals from KKWRC provided the founders for self-sustaining populations in 3 protected areas (Ibex Reserve, Uruq Bani M’arid & Mahazat as-Sayd) and continue to serve as the source of animals for augmentation of populations that might be depleted through poaching or natural catastrophe. Since 1989 ZSL has managed the Centre and provided research staff.
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