Dama Gazelle

Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Genus and Species: Gazella dama

Also known as the addra gazelle, the dama gazelle is the largest of all gazelles. It is also the world's rarest.

Physical Description: This large gazelle has a slender neck and legs, and somewhat S-shaped horns. It is white with reddish-brown coloring, but the pattern varies by region. Dama gazelles in the western part of their range are more reddish-brown than those in the east. Coloration also varies by age and season. The head is typically pale.

Size: This gazelle may have a shoulder height of nearly four feet. Its head and body length may range from four and a half to five and a half feet, and its tail may be up to a foot long. Adults may weigh 88 to 165 pounds.

Status: The World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species lists the dama gazelle as critically endangered. There may be only a few hundred of these gazelles left in the wild.

Geographic Distribution: Dama gazelles once ranged across northern Africa, from the Atlantic to the Nile. Now, they can be found in a few isolated areas in Chad, Mali, and Niger.

Habitat: These gazelles live on Sahelian grasslands, savanna, and sub-desert steppes.

Diet: Dama gazelles eat shrubs, succulents, herbs, trees, and woody plants.

Reproduction: About six and a half months after mating, females give birth to a single fawn. It is weaned after about six months.

Behavior: They may lead a solitary life or live in a group of up to 15 individuals.

Fun Fact:
Dama gazelles may stand on their hind legs to eat from acacia trees and other plants as high as six feet from the ground.