Image Nation Abu Dhabi hosted the North African premiere of its documentary Back to the Wild on October 30th in N’Djamena, Chad.

Held in partnership with the UAE Embassy and the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, the screening was followed by panel discussion about the leading Schimitar Horned Oryx conservation program with panelists John Newby, the CEO of the Sahara Conservation Center, His Excellency Mohammed Ali Musabah Al Shamsi and the Chadian Minister of Environment and Fisheries Siddick Abdelkerim Haggar.

The film was screened in front of an audience of leading conservation experts, dignitaries and diplomats including the Ambassadors of China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Germany and Morocco – amongst others.

The documentary follows the journey of Nya, a Scimitar-horned Oryx and the rest of her herd in what has been described as the world’s most ambitious mammalian species reintroduction programme.

The Scimitar-horned Oryx was declared extinct-in-the-wild by the IUCN in 2000. Inspired by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and led by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, the programme aims to create a self-sustaining herd of over 500 Scimitar-horned Oryx in the 77,950-km2reserve in its former range in Chad.  The programme has been enthusiastically supported by EAD’s partners; The Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, The Sahara Conservation Fund, The Smithsonian Institution and The Zoological Society of London.

The 30-minute documentary premiered on Quest Arabiya in April and is currently screening on Etihad’s inflight entertainment system.