Hunting ban could see last of 'unicorns' Critics say ranchers would trim herds.

Scimitar-horned oryxes stand in a pen at Tommy Oates' livestock auction business, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, in Huntsville, where he deals in exotics. A new federal law placing three endangered African antelope under protection of the Endangered Species Act went into effect Wednesday, April 4, 2012, which means Texas exotic animal ranchers are shooting and selling off their herds before they become worthless. Texas has the largest herds of these three antelope, which are either extinct or nearing it in their natural habitat, in the world. They are seeking a court injunction against the rule saying that if it goes into effect, these animals will in fact become extinct. less Scimitar-horned oryxes stand in a pen at Tommy Oates' livestock auction business, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, in Huntsville, where he deals in exotics. A new federal law placing three endangered African antelope ... more Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Hunting ban could see last of 'unicorns' 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

Its horns, sometimes up to 4 feet long, arc gracefully over its back, almost reaching its hindquarters when it lifts its head to sniff the wind.

Vast herds of them once roamed the semi-arid plains of North Africa and the Sahel, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

It was named in an inscription on the Egyptian tomb of Sabu of Sakkarah nearly 23 centuries ago, and is thought to be the inspirational template for the unicorn.

In 2000, after finally succumbing to hunting, loss of habitat, climate change and war, the scimitar-horned oryx was declared extinct in the wild.

But not in Texas, where it has returned from the brink and now thrives in greater numbers than anywhere on Earth, and where it finds itself at the center of a modern, protracted new battle for survival.

That battle is lost Wednesday, Texas ranchers fear, when the scimitar-horned oryx and two of its African cousins, the addax and the dama gazelle, officially receive full protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Without the unfettered ability to hunt, breed and trade these animals, ranchers say they will lose the economic incentive to maintain the herds, and whatever gains have been made in restoring their numbers will be lost.

By any measure, those gains have been impressive. In 1979, according to the Texas-based Exotic Wildlife Association, there were 32 scimitar-horned oryx in a captive breeding program in Texas; today there are more than 11,000. Only two addax were known to exist in the state in 1971; today there are more than 5,000. And the number of dama gazelle has increased from nine individuals in 1979 to more than 800 today.

But what makes this success story controversial is that the economic viability of the herds rests largely on the fact that trophy hunters will pay a hefty price — up to $5,500 for an oryx and $10,000 for a dama gazelle — to bag one, and there are those who would rather see the animals disappear than see them hunted.

Friends of Animals, a Connecticut-based animal-rights organization adamantly opposed to hunting, has been fighting for more than two decades to have the three species listed on the national Endangered Species Act. In 2005, it succeeded.

At the same time, however, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted an exemption from certain provisions of the act relating to the “taking” — or hunting — and transportation of the animals, essentially maintaining the status quo.

That exemption was successfully challenged by Friends of Animals, and it disappears Wednesday.

“They don't like the fact that we forced the government to enforce the law,” said Friends of Animals President Priscilla Feral.

That's perhaps understating it — only on the surface is this about enforcing the law. At its heart, it is a bitter fight over conservation and how that intersects with private property rights and animal rights.

Feral does not mince her words. She would rather see the three species become extinct in Texas than see a single animal hunted in what she says are “canned hunts.” She calls the ranchers “pimps,” more interested in putting a head on the wall than in conserving the species.

True, altruism is not to be entirely credited with the meteoric rise in the numbers of scimitar-horned oryx, addax and dama gazelle in Texas. Its about making money, and if it becomes difficult to hunt them, their value declines, and there are plenty of other desirable exotic species on Texas ranches — between 80 and 125, depending on how you count them — to take up the slack.

Already, ahead of the implementation of the new rules, ranchers have been escalating hunts and selling off their stocks of the three species before the bottom drops out of the market.

In Kerrville, taxidermist Gary Broach normally sees maybe 10 to 12 scimitar-horned oryx come into his shop for processing and mounting in a year; in the last 28 days, 23 have come in for full-head mounting, and at least 17 others for lesser treatments.

J. David Bamberger, a celebrated Texas conservationist who pioneered the growth of the Texas scimitar-horned oryx herd in the late 1970s on his Hill Country ranch, said the initial oryx breeding program was started by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in an attempt to maintain the genetic diversity of those few animals then in captivity.

If the market tanks, he said he will have to apply for a hard-to-get permit from the government so that he can cull his herd in order to keep it genetically diverse. The new rule will, in effect, force him to start shooting the antelope he has refused to shoot until now.

Some ranchers will apply for permits and continue offering the three antelope for hunts, said Texas biologist Elizabeth Mungall, the author of a book on the state's exotic wildlife. She said many won't, however, because of the bureaucracy involved and because of the government intrusion it will entail.

“These permits will allow the government to come onto their private property at any time, unannounced for inspection,” she said.

If Feral is the public face of the efforts to stop hunting the antelope, Charlie Seale is the face of her nemesis as executive director of the Exotic Wildlife Association. He maintains that should the new rule survive legal challenges from his organization and other interested parties, the number of scimitar-horned oryx in Texas will plummet to no more than 1,000 animals in 10 years.

“It's a private property issue, and hunting is a management tool,” Seale said. “There is no slaughter market for these animals. Hunting gives them value. A certain percentage of them (ranchers) will get the permits, but I think less than 10 percent will.”

tony.freemantle@chron.com