A gazelle (Gazella dorcas), native to N Africa and S Asia; light brown with white underparts; dark smudge along flank and along side of face; short backward-curving horns ringed with ridges; also known as jebeer.
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Vulnerable (VU) |
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Gazella dorcas (Linneaus, 1758) |
The Dorcas Gazelle (Gazella dorcas) is not the smallest of the gazelles nor the most common, but it is pretty small and it is pretty common.
Description
The Dorcas gazelle is similar in appearance to, yet smaller than, the closely related Mountain Gazelle (Gazella gazella).
Breeding
When conditions are harsh, Dorcas Gazelles live in pairs, but when conditions are more favorable they join together in family herds with one adult male, several females and young. The main threat to this species is ever-expanding civilization, which shrinks the gazelle's habitat by converting it to farmland for growing crops, and by introducing new flocks of domestic sheep and goats which compete with the gazelle for vegetation.
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