Dama Gazelle

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Dama Gazelle Conservation status: Critical
Mhorr Gazelle, Gazella dama mhorr
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Genus: Gazella Species: G. dama
Binomial name
Gazella dama Pallas, 1776

The Dama Gazelle or Addra Gazelle Gazella dama is a species of gazelle. It lives in Africa in the Sahara desert and migrates south in search of food during the dry season. After the rains return and the desert plants turn green, they move north back to the Sahara. Poaching and destruction of their habitat have greatly diminished their numbers, and they no longer live in large herds.

It is white with a tannish-brown head and neck. The Dama gazelle also has a subspecies, the Mhorr Gazelle, Gazella dama mhorr, which is extinct in the wild. Its numbers have fallen by 80% over the last decade, and the dama is now listed as Critically Endangered.

Mhorr Gazelle

Dama Gazelle

Young dama gazelle

[edit] References

• Newby et al (2005). Gazella dama. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered

[edit] External link

• The Living Desert - Mhorr Gazelle