LAS CRUCES - An oryx spotted running around the New Mexico State University campus Sunday was injured and ailing, and was ultimately euthanized by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

Sgt. Chris Ortega with Game and Fish told the Sun-News Monday morning that the male oryx had a basketball-sized lump on his left rear rump, was salivating heavily and was emaciated, in part because its teeth were worn down "to the stumps."

The oryx was in such poor health that the animal was put to sleep soon after the department cornered him near the Pan American Center at NMSU.

Oryx are large antelope, native to Africa, who were introduced to White Sands MIssile Range about 50 years ago. It's rare, though not unprecedented, to see one on the west side of the Organ Mountains.

The oryx was first spotted by Game and Fish at about 1:30 a.m. near Las Alturas Drive along Interstate 25, but officials lost track of it for a few hours until the agency began receiving calls reporting the oryx at 7 a.m.

The animal made its way west, across the interstate and onto the campus where several people captured photographs of him as he wandered the area.

NMSU freshman Andrew Pantoja, who is employed at NMSU's Corbett Center Student Union, said he was working on Sunday morning when he saw social media posts with photos of the oryx on campus.

Having hunted oryx himself near Bishop's Cap peak in the southern Organ Mountains, Pantoja said he drove around campus after work looking for the animal, and spotted him running across Stewart Street into an athletic field parking lot around 3 p.m.

Pantoja followed the oryx, who ran into the parking lot at the Chamisa Village dormitory on campus before crossing the parking area by the Pan American Center toward a frontage road where he said Game and Fish cornered the oryx shortly after 3:15 p.m.

History of oryx in New Mexico

The National Park Service describes the African oryx, or gemsbok (Oryx gazella), as a large antelope that, on average, weighs 450 pounds and stands 47 inches tall at the shoulder. It is native to the Kalahari Desert in Africa.

Between 1969 and 1977, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish released 95 oryx on White Sands Missile Range and the surrounding areas as part of the state's exotic animal experimental program. Now, there are thousands of oryx on the range.

The program also saw the introduction of ibex, a species of wild mountain goat from Iran, to the Florida Mountains in Luna County.

Annual hunts for the oryx began in 1974. Officials say this helps control and stabilize the population.

The oryx are concentrated at White Sands Missile Range but they roam freely across the Organ Mountains.

"It was shocking," Pantoja said. "I would never think an oryx would get this far down into town."

More: Game and Fish Sergeant talks about Florida Mountains and ibex

Ortega said there have been oryx sightings in the Doña Ana community north of Las Cruces as well as the vicinity of Bishops Cap Peak. Pantoja said there have been frequent sightings behind Tortugas "A" Mountain.

The animal's rear injury was so swollen, Ortega said he noticed it from a distance of 100 yards.

"It could have been from a cholla cactus or from a fight," he said. "This guy was obviously sick and injured."

It was the first time, to his knowledge, an oryx has been seen on the NMSU campus.

The decision to euthanize him on the spot was made in consideration of the animal's suffering as well as public safety risk of him running around in an area near recreational fields and an interstate highway.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.