Al Wusta Wildlife Reserve

The Jiddat al-Harasis is a gravel plain in central Oman where fog rolling in from the sea supports a sparse vegetation that in turn supports large mammals in country that looks incapable of it, and the reserve here was set up around the reintroduction of the Arabian oryx, which had been hunted to extinction in the wild by 1972 and was returned from captive stock from 1982 in one of the best-known conservation programmes of its kind. The reserve was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1994 and delisted in 2007 after its area was reduced, the first property ever removed from the list. Oryx, Arabian gazelle, Nubian ibex and houbara bustard are present, and the Harasis people herd across the same ground.

What you actually see

• Arabian oryx - the reintroduced herds on the gravel plain.
• Gazelle and ibex - the other large mammals of the reserve.
• Houbara bustard - the bird the plains are also managed for.
• The Jiddat plain - fog-fed vegetation on apparently barren gravel.

When to go

November to March; summer heat on the plain is extreme. Early morning and evening are when animals move. Permits and a guide must be arranged in advance through the reserve authorities.

Honest expectations

Access requires a permit that takes arranging and is not always granted. Sightings of oryx are not guaranteed and the animals range widely. There are no visitor facilities. The plain is featureless and navigation without a guide is dangerous.

Nearby

Haima lies on the main road; Duqm is east on the coast.