Many, but not all, antelope have ex situ populations in zoological gardens and private collections. These may constitute ‘ark’ or ‘insurance’ populations for species that are extinct in the wild or severely depleted, provide stock for reintroduction or reinforcement, and also have an educational value by informing the public of the threatened status of endangered species and of the threats.

The value of such populations has been clearly demonstrated through the successful and ongoing reintroductions of Arabian Oryx and Scimitar-horned Oryx, respectively: neither initiative would have been possible without the presence of well managed captive herds.

Several threatened antelopes are subject to coordinated regional breeding programmes designed to minimise inbreeding, e.g. by the US-based Association of Zoos and Aquariums https://www.aza.org

and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria https://www.eaza.net

Many exotic antelopes (totalling some tens of thousands) are held on private ranches in Texas and other parts of the USA, some off them with high conservation value (Mountain Bongo, Addax, Dama Gazelle, etc).