GAZELLE

The Gazelle, pronounced guh ZEHL, is a slender antelope that is noted for its beauty, grace, and gentleness. Poets have often written about these qualities of the gazelle. About 15 species (kinds) live over a vast area of northern and eastern Africa and Asia. Some gazelles live in mountain ranges, but most of them live on open, sandy plains.

Gazelles have large, soft, black eyes. Both males and females of most species have round black horns. The horns of some types have ringlike ridges around them, but others are smooth. Usually the horns are U-shaped. Gazelles have long, narrow, pointed ears and short tails. Their hair is short and smooth. Some gazelles have tufts of hair on the knees. Thomson's gazelle has a light fawn-colored back that deepens to a wide band of dark brown along the flanks. Its underside is pure white.

Gazelles are swift runners. Some gazelles can outrun even the swiftest greyhounds. Some hunters set snaresor build enclosures near watering places to trap the animals when they come to drink.

Gazelles are plant-eating animals. Loder's gazelle lives in the northern Sahara and eats berries and leaves. The Arabs believe it never drinks.

The familiar light-brown gazelle, sometimes called the dorcas, or ariel, gazelle, is less than 2 feet (61 centimeters) tall. It lives in the desert from Morocco east to central India and south to Somalia, where plants are sparse and scrubby. The name gazelle comes from an Arabic word that means to be affectionate.

Grant's gazelle of eastern Africa has longer horns than any other gazelle. Gazelle horns usually grow 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) long, but those of Grant's gazelle may grow 30 inches (76 centimeters) or longer. This animal stands about 33 inches (84 centimeters) high at the shoulder. It lives in herds of from 6 to as many as 200 animals. It eats grass and the leaves of shrubs. Grant's gazelles often graze with hartebeests and zebras.

About 10 species and subspecies of gazelles, including Loder's gazelle and three kinds of dorcas gazelles, are endangered. Herds of goats and sheep eat most of the vegetation (plant life) in the dry, open areas where these gazelles graze. The red gazelle of Algeria may be extinct. Hunters who ignore game laws kill hundreds of gazelles every year. Conservationists claim that a total ban on gazelle hunting could save some species.

Scientific classification. Gazelles belong to the bovid family, Bovidae. They are genus Gazella.