Mountain gazelle
The mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) is a species of gazelle. It lives in Israel, Palestine, the Golan Heights in Syria, and Turkey [1] [2] It lives in mountains, foothills, and coastal plains. It is the National animal of Palestine.
Description
changeMountain gazelles are one of the few mammals, where the male and female have horns. Males have bigger horns with rings around them. Females also have horns, but they are thinner and shorter. Mountain gazelles are sexually dimorphic, which means that males are larger than females. Male can weigh from 17-29.5 kg. Females can weigh 16–25 kg. Mountain gazelles can run up to 80 km/h (50 mph).[3]
Habitat
changeGazelles have adapted to live in dry, desert-like places. They spend most of their time at the top of mountains and hills. Mountain gazelles prefer to sleep on the tops of hills/mountains to avoid the heat in the day. Around dawn and dusk, they will be found leaving the hills to eat in light forests, fields, or desert plateaus.[3]
Feeding
changeIt is a grazing species, though this varies with the amount of food available. They can survive for a long time without a source of water. During that time, they get freshwater from succulent plants and dew from plants.[3]
References
change- ↑ Yom-Tov, Yoram; Balaban, Amir; Hadad, Ezra; Weil, Gilad; Roll, Uri (September 2021). "The plight of the Endangered mountain gazelle Gazella gazella". Oryx. 55 (5): 771–778. doi:10.1017/S003060531900108X. ISSN 0030-6053.
- ↑ Çoğal, Muhsin; Sözen, Mustafa (2017-02-07). "The status and distribution of Gazella gazella (Artiodactyla: Mammalia), and other mammals of the Hatay province in southern Turkey". Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution. 63 (2): 44–49. doi:10.1163/22244662-06301003. ISSN 2224-4662.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Gazella gazella". Animal Diversity Web.
