Grant's gazelle is found in a relatively small area of East Africa, from north to south, Ethiopia and southern Sudan to northern Tanzania, and east to west, the Kenyan coast to Lake Victoria.
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| Grant's gazelle. Photo by Michael Lewin. |
They are a pale fawn color, have long legs, and extensive white underparts and a distinctive white rump that extends above the tail, edged by a vertical black stripe. The tail is white with a black tuft. Both sexes have horns, but the males are larger and more graceful because they extend upwards and outward. They are also thicker and more strongly ridged. A herd consists of females, their young and a single territorial male. Then there are bachelor herds with no females. They can run up to 50 mph.
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| Photo by Mark Edwards. |
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| Photo by Mark Edwards. |
They are migratory, but travel in the opposite direction of the Thomson's gazelles, zebras and wildebeest that are more dependent on water. Grant's gazelles can subsist on vegetation in waterless areas where they face little competition.
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| Grant's gazelles in Buffalo Springs NR. Photo by Mark Edwards. |
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| Grant's gazelles. Photo by Steven Shuel. |
Fifty mph is so fast--it would be an incredible experience to see them in motion.
ReplyDeleteThose huge horns look rather cumbersome. Any idea how much a full-grown set weighs?
ReplyDelete