Dorcas Gazelle

Maximum longevity: 23.7 years (captivity) Observations: One captive female lived for 23.7 years (Richard Weigl 2005).

Gazella dorcas populations have many predators. Cheetahs, lions, servals, caracals, wolves, and hyaena prey on all sizes and ages. Young can be killed by smaller predators, such as foxes, eagles, and jackals. Many of these predators have been wiped out in areas where gazelles are currently found. Humans, wolves and caracal continue to be major predatory threats to these gazelles. Gazella dorcas relies chiefly on its keen eyesight to watch for predators. They have calls described in the communication section that help alert others in a herd to the presence of a predator. Skin shivering, tail twitching, and taking bouncing leaps with its head high, also called stotting, are all used to warn others of the presence of a predator.

Known Predators:

• cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)
• leopards (Panthera pardus)
• lions (Panthera leo)
• servals (Leptailurus serval)
• caracals (Caracal caracal)
• wolves (Canis lupus)
• hyaenas (Hyaenidae)
• humans (Homo sapiens)

Gazella dorcas varies in coloration, depending on the location. They are generally pale colored and have a white underbelly with two brown stripes on either side. In the northern Sahara they are an ochre color with darker flanking stripes. Near the Red Sea, they are reddish-brown with less conspicuous, light flanking stripes. The head is darker than the rest of the body. Their horns have the most pronounced curve of members of Gazella, and within the subspecies the amount of curve in the horn varies. Horns of males are 250-280 mm long and have 20-24 rings. Female's horns are smaller (170-190 mm) and straighter with 16-18 rings. Adult males average 16.5 kg, while the females are about 12.6 kg, although average size varies among populations. They are the second smallest gazelle species.

Range mass: 14 to 18 kg.

Average mass: 16.5 kg.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: male larger; ornamentation

In captivity Gazella dorcas can live up to 15 years. Average lifespan in the wild is unknown and may vary by population.

Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 15 (high) years.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 17.1 years.

Average lifespan
Status: wild: 12.5 years.

Gazella dorcas is the best equipped member of the genus Gazella to inhabit dry areas. They are found in a variety of habitats: savannahs, semi-deserts, small sand dune fields, consolidated dune areas, and wadis, and are associated with a number of different plant species. High densities of G. dorcas are found in sand dune fields with high concentrations of Pancratium sickenbergeri, a preferred food.

Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland

Gazella dorcas is found in the northern Ethiopian biogeographic region and the southwestern Palearctic region. These gazelles inhabit parts of northern Africa, and the Sahara and Negev deserts including: Morocco, Rio de Oro, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Somalia, Ethiopia and parts of Israel and Sinai in the Middle East.

Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); ethiopian (Native )

Gazella dorcas individuals can go their entire lives without drinking water. They can get all the water they need from the plants they eat. There is a high mortality rate among young born in captivity because of inadequate resistance to infection.

Gazelles have an alarm call which sounds like a short bark. They also use a louder call made in cases of extreme danger or pain. Females have a low grunt to call the young and all G. dorcas can produce a long growling sound that signals annoyance. When in danger from a predator, "stotting", described in the predation section, is a common way to warn other gazelles of the predators presence.

Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic ; chemical

Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical

This species is considered threatened and in the past was classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. The ongoing threats to this species are habitat destruction and illegal hunting.

US Federal List: threatened

CITES: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable

Gazella dorcas is better adapted for the environment around Israel in the Negev desert than other grazing animals. They outcompete other grazers such as sheep and goats that are used for economic purposes.

Gazella dorcas is hunted as a food source.

Positive Impacts: food

Gazella dorcas, along with some other ungulates, make up the primary mode of seed dispersal for a variety of plants in the Acacia genus between the Red Sea and Israel.

Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds

Mutualist Species:

• Acacia

Gazella dorcas individuals feed on the flowers, leaves, and pods of Acacia trees in many of the areas they inhabit. They also feed on fruits and leaves of a variety of bushes. In the Negev Desert, G. dorcas feeds on Madonna lilies (Pancratium sickenbergeri). Depending on the season, methods for obtaining food change. In summer gazelles dig holes in the sand to remove the stem and bulb of Madonna lilies. After winter rains, gazelles eat freshly sprouted leaves. Foraging techniques permit maximum energy intake with minimum energy output. Large amounts of feeding are done in small areas with high concentrations of plant life followed by long moves to other feeding areas.

Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; wood, bark, or stems; seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit; flowers

Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore , Frugivore , Granivore , Lignivore)

During the September to November mating season males will guard territory marked by their droppings. Depending on local climate, a group of G. dorcas will consist of one or two males with a harem of females or just a male-female pair. In extreme climates, where resources are scarce, they primarily associate in pairs.

Mating System: polygynous

In the wild, females will usually begin reproducing around age two. In captivity pregnancy can happen as early as six months of age. About 90% of females in the wild became pregnant. They give birth to only one offspring per pregnancy in almost all cases. Pregnancy lasts around six months and the fawn is born with hair and open eyes. Young spend the majority of their first two weeks curled up in the shade. Afterwards they will follow the mother around looking for solid food. Males do not seem to participate in the care of the young, except indirectly through resource defense for the group.

Breeding interval: Breeding occurs once yearly.

Breeding season: Breeding occurs from September to November.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Average gestation period: 6 months.

Average weaning age: 3 months.

Range time to independence: 1 (low) years.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2 years.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous

Average birth mass: 1650 g.

Average gestation period: 182 days.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 589 days.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 730 days.

Females nurse their young for one to two minutes several times a day for around 3 months. For the first two weeks of the young gazelle's life, the mother grazes and sleeps away from the young gazelle, leaving it in a safe spot. As the young gazelle grows, they join their natal group for the first year, or longer.

Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)

The dorcas gazelle is one of the most desert-adapted of all gazelles; they can go for their entire lives without drinking, as they can get all the moisture they need from the plants that form their diet (2). However, they will drink if water is available (4). They are able to withstand high temperatures, but when it is very hot they are active mainly at dawn, dusk and during the night (2). In areas where they face persecution, they tend to be active at night in order to minimise the risk of hunting (4). These 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 after rain they have been observed digging out bulbs from the ground (4). When conditions are harsh, dorcas gazelles live in pairs, but when conditions are more favourable they occur in family herds with one adult male, several females and young (4). During the breeding season, adult males tend to be territorial, and mark their range with dung middens (2). In most parts of the range, mating takes place from September to November. Gestation takes six months; a single fawn is the norm, although twins have been reported in Algeria. The newborn is well developed at birth, with fur and open eyes. Within the first hour, the fawn attempts to stand, and it will suckle on this first day of life (4). In the first two weeks, the young gazelle lies curled up in a scrape on the ground or beneath bushes while the mother grazes close by. The young then starts to follow its mother around and begins to take solid food. After around three months, the fawn stops suckling and is fully weaned, at which time the pair rejoins the herd (4). The natural predators of dorcas gazelles include cheetahs, which have largely been eliminated throughout the gazelle's range. Other predators include serval, caracal, wolf, and hyaena. Fawns are taken by smaller cats, jackals, foxes, and eagles (4). Dorcas gazelles are able to run at speeds of up to 80 km per hour, and when threatened they tail-twitch and make bouncing leaps with the head held high (stotting) to announce that they have seen a predator (4).

This species lives within national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas in a number of the countries in which it occurs. It is protected by law in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan and Israel; however in some areas enforcement is poor (3). In many countries, it has been proposed that further reserves should be created and enforcement of existing legal protection should be improved. In Tunisia, there is a need to determine the status of the species in the wild, and to determine where conservation action, such as carrying out reintroductions of captive-bred stock, should be used to restore the species. Captive breeding and reintroductions have also been proposed in Libya (3).

The Dorcas gazelle is generally similar in appearance to the closely related Gazella gazella, but they are smaller, have longer ears and more strongly curved horns, which bow outwards then turn inwards and forwards at the tips (4). Individuals belonging to the Saharan subspecies (G. d. osiris) have a very pale fawn coloured coat, and the white underside is bordered with a brown stripe, above which there is a sandy stripe. The forehead and face are darker than the body (4). Subspecies from north of the Sahara tend to be more ochre in colour, and have dark flanks and face-stripes, while populations in Israel and around the Red Sea are darker and more reddish (4).

Dorcas gazelles inhabit flat grassland and steppe in Morocco, and desert, sub-desert, and steppe in Algeria, where they tend to avoid very sandy areas (3). In Libya they occur in a range of dry open habitats but show a strong preference for vegetated dry watercourses, known as wadis. In the Western Desert of Egypt it prefers oasis-type depressions and used to occur along the coast of the Mediterranean; it also inhabits wadis in this area. In Jordan they are found in flat gravel-plains, mixed gravel and dune areas and gravel plateaux, and in Israel they are typically found in wadis, where acacia trees are able to grow due to the presence of underground water sources (3).

The dorcas gazelle is found in North Africa and the Middle East (3). The 'possible' range of the various subspecies includes Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara (5) (6). In Jordan it is considered to be one of the country's most threatened species (3). G.d.isabella is found in Israel and Sinai, and along the coast of the Red Sea on the borders of Saudi Arabia (7). The Moroccan dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas massaesyla) is found only in the northern plains of Morocco (3) and Pelzen's gazelle (Gazella dorcas pelzelni) is found in Somalia (5).

Gazella dorcas is classified as Vulnerable (VU A1a) by the IUCN Red List 2003 (1) and listed on Appendix III of CITES (3). The Moroccan dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas massaesyla) is classified as Endangered under IUCN criteria (3). Six subspecies have been described, but the validity and distribution of most of these subspecies are uncertain (3).

Numbers of this gazelle have declined throughout its range (1). Threats facing this species include habitat loss due to the expansion of permanent agriculture and grazing pressures caused by domestic sheep and goats. Poaching for food and predation by dogs are also problems, but the most serious threat throughout this gazelle's range is uncontrolled illegal hunting (3).

The dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about 55–65 cm (1.8–2.1 feet) at the shoulder, with a head and body length of 90–110 cm (3–3.5 feet) and a weight of 15–20 kg (33–44 pounds). The numerous subspecies survive on vegetation in grassland, steppe, wadis, mountain desert and in semidesert climates of Africa and Arabia. About 35,000–40,000 exist in the wild.