Animal Fact Sheet
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Mhorr Gazelle
Gazella dama mhorr
What does it look
like?
Mhorrs' long legs, long neck and slender body are typical of the
gazelle genus' graceful, swift lines. The largest gazelle, mhorrs
measure up to 30 inches at the shoulder.
- Deep, rich rust top coat color extends down the outer side of
the legs to the hooves with contrasting white underbelly as part
of two-tone coloration, called "counter shading"
- Counter shading obscures the animals' shape to predators, minimizing
detection against the sand
- Mhorr gazelles have "S" shaped, ringed horns reaching
up to a foot long
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| Where
in the world?
Their former natural habitat was the Sahara desert areas of Morocco,
North Africa. A subspecies of the dama gazelle, mhorr gazelles are
true desert animals. Today they are found only in captivity.
What are some behaviors?
Mhorr gazelles migrated north and south in herds of 10 to 30 during
dry seasons when food was scarce. Herds numbered up to 100 in rainy
seasons when food was plentiful.
When playing or alarmed, gazelles' exhibit either
stotting or pronking gaits, bounding along stiff-legged with all
four limbs landing together. Both males and females possess horns,
possibly evolved in response to each having to defend its own food
resources.
What about offspring?
Little is known about mhorr gazelle courtship or breeding habits
in the wild, as there are now none left to observe. However, all
gazelle males establish territories during the breeding season,
and actively exclude other mature males while females are receptive.
Gestation period is about seven months and young
are born singly. Newborns lie outside the herd, hidden in foliage
for the first few weeks after birth. Mothers come to nurse, calling
the infant with soft bleating. |
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What
does it eat?
In the wild, mhorr gazelles were browsers and grazers, mainly taking
whatever was the greenest of the woody plants, grass and herbs,
depending on availability during the year.
Is it threatened
or endangered?
Mhorr gazelles are extinct in the wild. In 1971, the World Wildlife
Fund established a private game reserve in Almeria, Spain. But the
possibility of disease or disaster wiping out the entire population
prompted conservationists to divide the herd and place them in several
locations. German zoos in Frankfurt and East Berlin, and the San
Diego Zoo in California each received small herds for further captive
breeding.
The Living Desert has a breeding group. Over
the years, six mhorr gazelles have been born here. Since 1981, the
worldwide captive population has increased to about 150 individuals.
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