The Gift of Oryx recounts events that in the depths of the Covid epidemic brought six scimitar-horned oryx to a South Texas ranch. As this original six oryx grew to thirty-six over the course of four years, the author and his wife were able to develop a bond of trust with these animals which enabled the two of them to spend time among these oryx, caring for them, and getting to know them well both as a species and as individuals. The story prompts a close examination of the circumstances that brought this species, until recently extinct in the wild, to South Texas, the fascinating social and mental lives of scimitar-horned oryx, and the ethically fraught challenge of protecting this and other African antelope species from the many pressures that today threaten virtually all wildlife.
