The 2008 assessment noted that Arabian Oryx no longer qualified for the Endangered category under criterion D on the basis of increasing numbers, and that Vulnerable D1 was appropriate and would have applied from 2006. Under IUCN Red List Guidelines, a species only moves to a lower category of threat if none of the criteria for the higher category (here Endangered) have been met for a period of five years or more. As this remains the case with Arabian Oryx, the transfer to Vulnerable should take effect from 2011.

Although numbers in the largest population (Mahazat as Sayd in Saudi Arabia) fell between 1998 and 2008 due to drought-related mortality, they have since stabilized. The total reintroduced population is now ca.1,000, so well over the threshold of 250 mature individuals needed to qualify for Endangered under criterion D. The population is stable or increasing and the area of occupancy is also increasing as oryx are released into new sites.