Baby Gazelles In Hiding

A mother gazelle will hide its newborn calf in tall grasses for several weeks after it's born.

 Picture from Posters Guide

 These infants will remain out of sight for days or even weeks, being periodically nursed by their mother, until they are old enough to join the mother's herd, in the case of females, or a bachelor herd.

Grazing Gazelles

A gazelle's diet consists of grass, scrub and leaves keeps them constantly grazing.

Picture from Bite

The Grant’s gazelle obtains the moisture it needs from its food, so they have little use for water.  It has unusually large salivary glands, possibly an adaptation for secreting fluid to cope with a relatively dry diet.

The Magnificent Mountain Goat

Although called a goat, mountain goats are actually a member of the animal family that includes cows, antelope and gazelles. Its genus, Oreamnos, roughly translates to “mountain lamb”, which makes sense given the high altitude at which these animals live. Found exclusively in the high mountain ranges of western North America, mountain goats are excellent climbers that spend most of their time at elevations of up to 13,000 feet; far out of the range of most predators.

Mountain goats are white in color with a noticeable beard and rearward-curving horns on both sexes. They have a double coat that includes a dense under layer covered with an outer coat of hollow hairs that moult in the spring. This thick outer coat allows them to withstand temperatures as low as -50 degrees F and 100mph winds. For as sure-footed as they are, mountain goats are quite large. They usually stand over 3 feet at the shoulders, and weigh anywhere from 100-300lbs.

Due to their imposing size and the high altitudes at which they live, mature mountain goats are not easy prey. Though they do have to be wary of wolves, cougars, and bears, especially when traveling between peaks at lower altitudes, the biggest threat of predation comes from golden eagles, which have been known to attack young goat kids. Mountain goats can and will use their horns to injure or kill large predators or humans that get too close to their kids; however, they are not naturally confrontational animals.

Mountain goats prefer to live in groups of 3-50 animals and spend their time foraging for grass, moss, lichen and other high altitude foliage. They currently exist in significant numbers are considered a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Leaping Animals

Gazelles and Antelopes are beautiful and graceful leapers. Being able to jump is their best defense against cheetahs, lions and other African hunters.

Both gazelles and antelopes perform a leap called "Stotting." This is a stiff-legged gait that has the animal jumping vertically and landing in the same location. It looks like the antelope is on a pogo stick. Although the young perform this leap during play, most adults stott during the mating season or when being chased by a predator. This seems counter-productive in the case of predation because stotting actually slows the gazelle down, making it easier to catch. Scientists believe stotting is used as kind of a boast, to show prospective mates, as well as enemies just how fit the gazelle really is. Whatever the reason, it must work as cheetahs will break off a hunt when a gazelle stots.

To learn more about either of these lovely leapers, click on The Jungle Store animal facts pages listed below:
Gazelle Facts
Antelope Facts

Jumping Gazelles

This picture of Thomson's Gazelles (East Africa) was taken by Matthew Hull. Tommies exhibit a distinctive behavior of running slowly and jumping high before fleeing when threatened by predators. This is called stotting.

There are 14 types of gazelles. Most are found in Africa, but some are native to Southeast Asia (Goitered Gazelle or Persian Gazelle, Chinkara or Indian Gazelle, Mongolian Gazelle, Tibetan Gazelle, Przewalski’s Gazelle).

Left - a Mhorr Gazelle (Morocco and North Africa) – a desert gazelle now extinct in the wild.

Gazelles are a type of antelope and are known for being speedy animals. They can run up to 50 miles per hour for a long time.

Cuvier's Gazelle above is an endangered gazelle in Tunisia.