Dama gazelle (Nanger dama)

Description

What’s the World’s Favourite Species?

Dama gazelle fact file

• Description
• Biology
• Range
• Habitat
• Status
• Threats
• Conservation
• Find out more
• Glossary
• References
• Print factsheet

Dama gazelle description

The largest of all gazelle species, the dama gazelle has at least two subspecies, which vary greatly in colour. The eastern subspecies, known as the red-necked gazelle (Nanger dama ruficollis), is bright white with a reddish-brown neck. However, the degree of colouration increases from east to west, and the most westerly subspecies, the Mhorr gazelle (Nanger dama mhorr), is almost completely red, apart from the undersides and the rump. It has a small white patch on the throat, and a white face, with red cheek patches and thin black stripes running from the eyes to the corners of the mouth. All dama gazelles have thin legs and a long, slender neck, as well as long, S-shaped horns, which are larger and thicker in males ⁽²⁾.

Also known as

Addra gazelle, ariel, nanger, ril.

Synonyms

Gazella dama.

French

Gazelle Dama.

Spanish

Gacela Dama.

Size

Head-body length: 140 - 165 cm ⁽²⁾

Shoulder height: 90 - 120 cm ⁽²⁾

Tail length: 25 - 35 cm ⁽²⁾

Weight

40 - 75 kg ⁽²⁾

Dama gazelle biology

Dama gazelles form mixed herds of 10 to 20 animals which roam widely to find enough vegetation and water to survive. They migrate seasonally, forming larger groups of several hundred, in which they move north into the Sahara desert at the start of the rainy season and back south into the Sahel for the dry season. They feed on acacia, bush leaves and grasses, and may stand on their hind legs to reach higher foliage. Dama gazelles are preyed upon by cheetahs, Cape hunting dogs, lions, leopards, hyenas and jackals ^{(2) (13)}.

Females reach sexual maturity at nine to twelve months and males between 18 and 24 months. Breeding takes place between March and June, and a single calf is born six and a half months later ⁽²⁾. Initially the newborn calf is hidden from the herd, but begins to follow its mother after a few days ⁽¹²⁾. The calf will be weaned at around six months old ⁽²⁾. Males are territorial during the breeding season, when they guard several females, and will mark their territory with faeces, urine, and secretions from the preorbital glands beneath the eyes ⁽¹⁴⁾.

Dama gazelle range

Once a numerous and widespread animal, the dama gazelle was found from Morocco, Senegal and Mauritania eastward to the Sudan. It suffered a serious decline in recent years and is now found only in Chad, Mali and Niger ⁽⁵⁾. Recent surveys in these three countries found very few gazelles, making the dama one of the most threatened species in Africa ^{(6) (7) (8) (9) (10)}. Captive-bred groups of the Mhorr gazelle have been reintroduced into fenced areas in Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia ⁽¹¹⁾.

Dama gazelle habitat

Although the dama gazelle normally inhabits grasslands and semi-desert, it is mainly found today in marginal areas on stony plains and plateaus, and mountain foothills ^{(12) (13)}.

Dama gazelle status

The dama gazelle is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List ⁽¹⁾, and is listed on Appendix I of CITES ⁽³⁾ and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species ⁽⁴⁾.

Dama gazelle threats

In the recent past hunting of this species was common, until numbers fell dramatically ⁽¹²⁾. Now, additional threat comes from habitat loss due to desertification as well as overgrazing by livestock and the loss of tree cover following clearance by man ^{(13) (12)}. The livestock not only cause drier land, but also drive the gazelle away. Civil unrest in several of the countries home to this once numerous gazelle has also contributed to its decline ⁽¹²⁾.

Dama gazelle conservation

The range of the dama gazelle falls on some of the poorest countries in Africa, and consequently little action is being taken to conserve this species. It is managed in captivity and exists in a few reserves in its range, but they are not well guarded, and offer little more protection than any other area ⁽¹⁴⁾.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Find out more

For further information on the dama gazelle see:

• Ultimate Ungulate:
  www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Nanger_dama.html
• Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF):
  www.saharaconservation.org

Authentication

Authenticated (18/05/2006) by John Newby, Director of the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF).
http://www.saharaconservation.org

Glossary

Desertification

A process of sustained decline of the biological productivity of arid and semiarid land; the end-result is desert, or skeletal soil that is irrecoverable.

Sahel

A semiarid region of north-central Africa south of the Sahara desert that stretches across six countries from Senegal to Chad.

Subspecies

A population usually restricted to a geographical area that differs from other populations of the same species, but not to the extent of being classified as a separate species.

Territorial

An animal, a pair of animals or a colony that occupies and defends an area.

Territory

Area occupied and defended by an animal, a pair of animals or a colony.

References

1. IUCN Red List (June, 2009)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. Ultimate Ungulate (June, 2008)
   http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Nanger_dama.html
3. CITES (May, 2006)
   http://www.cites.org
4. CMS (March, 2005)
   http://www.cms.int
5. Beudels, R.C., Devilliers, P., Lafontaine, R., Devilliers-Terschuren, J. and Beudels, M. (2006) CMS SSA Concerted Action. 2d Edition. CMS Technical Series Publication No. 10. UNEP/CMS Secretariat, Bonn, Germany.
6. Monfort, S.L., Newby, J.E., Wacher, T., Tubiana, J. and Moksia, D. (2004) Sahelo- Saharan Interest Group Wildlife Surveys. Part 1: Central and Western Chad (September-October 2001). ZSL Conservation Report No. 1. Zoological Society of London, London.
7. Newby, J.E., Wacher, T.J., Monfort, S.L., Dixon, A.M. and and Houston, W. (2004) Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group wildlife surveys. Part 2. Central and South–Eastern Niger (February–March 2002). ZSL Conservation Report No. 2. Zoological Society of London, London.
8. Wacher, T., Newby, J.E., Houston, W., Spevak, E., Barmou, M. and Issa, A. (2005) Sahelo–Saharan Interest Group Wildlife Surveys. Tin Toumma & Termit (February–March 2004). ZSL Conservation Report No.3. The Zoological Society of London, London.
9. Lamarque, F. (2005) Rapport de mission en république du Mali: Détermination du statut de conservation des gazelles dama dans le Sud Tamesna - Programme 2004-2 du projet Antilopes Sahélo-Sahariennes (06-18 Février 2005). CMS-FFEM/ONCFS, Saint Louis Zoo, USA.
10. Lamarque, F. (2006) Rapport de mission en république du Mali: Dénombrement aérien des gazelles dama dans le Sud Tamesna - Programme 2004-2 du projet Antilopes Sahélo-Sahariennes (14-24 Novembre 2005). CMS-FFEM/ONCFS, Saint Louis Zoo, USA.
11. Antelope Taxonomic Advisory Group Mhorr Gazelle (June, 2008)
    http://www.antelopetag.com/assets/docs/Antelope/DesertAntelope/Mhorr_gazelle.doc
12. Animal Info (March, 2005)
    http://www.animalinfo.org/species/artiperi/gazedama.htm
13. Newby, J. (2006) Pers. comm.
14. Antelope Taxonomic Advisory Group Addra Gazelle (June, 2008)
    http://www.antelopetag.com/assets/docs/Antelope/DesertAntelope/ADDRA_GAZELLE.pdf