Dorcas Gazelle

Facts

IUCN VULNERABLE (VU)

Facts about this animal

The Dorcas Gazelle is the smallest gazelle. The males' horns are lyre-shaped and up to 40 cm long. The females' horns are smaller and straighter. The body length is about 1 m and the shoulder height is 55-65 cm, the weight is about 20 kg.

They were once widespread and numerous in savannahs, semi-deserts and deserts, ranging over most of North Africa, east through the Middle East to Pakistan and India. Their range now is fragmented and in some areas they are extinct.

Did you know?
that the Dorcas gazelle is a synonym for beauty in both Arab and Israeli culture? It is the biblical tzvi, an animal whose grace and beauty symbolise the Land of Israel, which is referred to as eretz hatzvi, the land of the gazelle. The beauty of the beloved is compared to a gazelle in several verses in Solomon's Song of Songs. Elsewhere in the bible the gazelle is a metaphor for speed.

Factsheet
Class	MAMMALIA
Order	ARTIODACTYLA
Suborder	RUMINANTIA
Family	BOVIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Gazella dorcas
Name (English)	Dorcas Gazelle
Name (French)	Gazelle dorcas
Name (German)	Dorkasgazelle
Name (Spanish)	Gacela dorcas
CITES Status	Appendix III (Tunisia, Danemark, Algeria)
CMS Status	Appendix I

Photo Copyright by
Altaipanther

Distribution

Distribution
Range	North Africa and Middle East: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Israel, Jordan. Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria(?), Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Yemen. Extinct in Senegal
Habitat	Savannahs, semideserts and deserts
Wild population	35,000-40,000 (1999) (Red List IUCN 2011)
Zoo population	Gazella dorcas neglecta: 172 (80, 92) registered by the International Studbook (Dec 31, 2008). 430 Gazella dorcas reported to ISIS (April 2009).

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 73 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
Frithjof Spangenberg

Why do zoos keep this animal

The dorcas gazelle is the gazelle per se referred to in the Holy Bible and of considerable cultural importance for the peoples in North Africa and the Near East. Keeping them is, therefore, of educational interest. The species is also vulnerable.

For one subspecies, the Saharawi dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas neglecta), an International Studbook has been established with a view of maintaining a viable ex situ population.

How this animal should be kept

Dorcas gazelles should be kept in social groups of one adult male and several females with their offspring. For up to five adult animals an outdoor enclosure of at least 500 m² is required, which should be enlarged by 50 m² for each additional adult. The enclosure should be well structured, frequently used areas, e.g. at the entrance to the stables, should be paved. The soil should be well drained, sand or marly limestone are suitable substrates if the enclosure is not large enough to sustain a grass cover. Landscaping may involve tree roots, large natural stones or trees. Indoors 4 m² should be provided. The indoor stabling is dry and free of drafts, and it is heated to 14-16 degrees Celsius during winter.

In the wild, Dorcas gazelles gazelles feed on leaves flowers and pods of many species of Acacia trees as well as the leaves, twigs and fruits of various bushes. They occasionally stand on their hind legs to browse on trees, and may occasionally dig out bulbs from the ground. The diet should therefore be high-proteine, comprising lucerne hay ad lib., fresh or dried browse, fresh lucerne/grass mixture (only summer), pellets especially for browsers etc.