Dama Gazelle

Nangir dama

The Dama Gazelle lives 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.

As other antelopes, the dama gazelle obtains most of the water it needs from its plant food. It browses on various desert shrubs and acacias, and it eats rough desert grasses in times of drought.

The dama gazelle was once one of the most numerous and widespread of Saharan gazelles, but they are very rarely seen in big migratory herds anymore, mainly due to hunting.

The word Gazelle comes from the Arabic word “ghazal”.

The picture of this Dama Gazelle was taken at the zoo of San Diego, California, in March 2004.

Genus Nangir
Subfamily Antilopinae
Family Bovidae
Order Artiodactyla
Subclass Eutheria
Class Mammalia
Subphylum Vertebrata
Phylum Chordata
Kingdom Animalia
Life on Earth
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