The addax, a desert antelope of the Sahara, has been driven to near-extinction in the wild with fewer than 100 individuals remaining, primarily from poaching.
Wild addax in the Niger area experience ongoing poaching pressure with snaring and shooting causing acute suffering and death. The extreme isolation of the remaining population creates chronic stress from the absence of normal herd social structure. Animals in captive breeding programs require management of desert-adapted behaviours to maintain welfare and reintroduction suitability. Reintroduced addax face initial adjustment stress and predation vulnerability in unfamiliar terrain. The near-extinction of the species represents a conservation failure with ongoing individual welfare consequences.