It is the second Mhorr gazelle to be born during the state of alarm. This species disappeared from its natural habitat and survived thanks to the visionary conservationist José Antonio Valverde.
La new calf is born within the Valencian reproductive group, composed of one male and three adult females, included in the international conservation program fighting to save this critically endangered species from extinction. The mother of the calf was born at the Rotterdam Zoo (Holland), her name is Fleur and, since her arrival at BIOPARC in 2014, she has had 5 cubs in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The last one was born this week and is developing perfectly under the care of his expert parent.
The effort and dedication of the multidisciplinary team that guarantees the well-being of the animals at BIOPARC every day is being rewarded with the joy of new births.. This time it is the second calf of the Mhorr gazelle (Nanger dama mhorr) that was born during the state of alarm. The species, which has become a conservation icon, was saved from extinction thanks to the captive reproduction projects that were launched by the visionary Spanish scientist José Antonio Valverde.
The park's multidisciplinary team, in charge of ensuring the well-being of the animals every day, is enthusiastically receiving the numerous and hopeful births of threatened species.
Without a doubt the beauty of this antelope, also called Lady gazelle, aroused the curiosity of Professor Valverde, who came to the conclusion that “Captive breeding” was the solution so that the Mhorr gazelle would not suffer the same tragic end than extinct species in Morocco and its Sahara such as the bear, the elephant, the Barbary lion, the buffalo antelope, or the long-eared serval. While the Mhorr continued to be exterminated in the desert, he moved a group to the peninsula to begin the breeding program in Almería that ultimately saved them from extinction. 40 years later, this species returned to Africa with 5 reintroduction initiatives in Morocco (Bou-Hedma National Park and Domaine Royal R'Mila), Senegal (Guembeul Fauna Reserve and Ferlo North Fauna Reserve) and Tunisia (Bou Hedma National Park).
Valverde known as “the father of Doñana” He developed important ecological studies on the Spanish Sahara and various Mediterranean ecosystems. In the 60s he started field work and obtaining specimens of the Mhorr gazelle, to begin in the 70s an ambitious international captive breeding project that fought to guarantee its survival. The study of its biology and distribution in zoological institutions to create different groups and sufficient genetic variability came from the hand of Antonio Cano. Finally, with the direction of Mar Cano, the dream of every conservationist was achieved, the “return” to its habitat, from where it should never have disappeared, a process that continues to this day.
Stories like that of Valverde and the Mhorr gazelle remind us the importance of personal commitment and a group of people cooperating with a common goal for the conservation of the planet's biodiversity.
