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Grant’s gazelle Facts

Grant’s gazelle Facts
Grant’s gazelle is a type of hoofed animal that belongs to the family Bovidae. It can be found in the eastern Africa: in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. Grant’s gazelle inhabits arid areas such as savannas, open plains and semi-deserts. Number of Grant’s gazelles is dropping due to habitat loss as a result of increased agriculture. Also, people hunt Grant’s gazelles because of their meat and horns. Luckily, wild population of Grant’s gazelles is still large and stable and these animals are not on the list of endangered species.
Interesting Grant’s gazelle Facts:
Grant’s gazelle is a medium-sized animal that can reach 55 to 65 inches of length and 84 to 180 pounds of weight. Males are much larger than females.
Coat of Grant’s gazelle is orange to beige on a dorsal side of the body. Belly and inner sides of legs are white in color. White fur on the buttocks is lined with black fur on the edges.
Both males and females have S-shaped ringed horns that can reach 18 to 31 inches in length.
Grant’s gazelle is herbivore (plant-eater). Its diet consists mainly of scrubs and leaves. It occasionally grazes grass.
Grant’s gazelles can tolerate prolonged periods of drought. They will consume grass covered with dew to compensate lack of water in the body. Grant’s gazelles are feeding mostly during the night due to high humidity of the air.
Grant’s gazelle is migratory animal. It will travel long distances to find next source of food.
Grant’s gazelle can achieve the speed of 50 miles per hour when they need to escape from the predators.
Main predators of Grant’s gazelle (besides humans) are cheetahs and wild dogs.
Grant’s gazelle lives in loose groups, composed of both males and females. Size of group depends on the available food. When the food is abundant, group can consists of up to 100 animals. During the dry season, group usually has 10 to 15 members.
Males become territorial during the mating season. Each male occupies territory of 550 to 2200 yards in diameter.
Males use urine, feces and scent from the glands located on the face, groins, knees and feet to mark their territories.
Males try to intimidate intruders and occasionally fight with each other to protect their breeding territories.
Pregnancy in females lasts 6 months and ends with single baby. Female leaves the herd to give birth in tall grass. Mother eats afterbirth to remove all smells that attract predators.
Mother and baby will rejoin the herd after couple of weeks. Young gazelle depends on the mother’s milk during the first 6 months of its life. It reaches sexual maturity at the age of 18 months.
Grant’s gazelle can survive from 12 to 14 years both in the wild and captivity.


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