Bouncing leaps with the head held high

Do female Dorcas gazelles have horns?

Yes, shorter and straighter than males’

How do Arabian sand gazelles save water on hot days?

They let their body warm up and cool down at night

Gazelle

Gazella

Gazelles of the genus Gazella are small, slender antelopes of the deserts, semi-deserts, hills and plains of North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. The model here is the Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), which weighs about 15–20 kg and can get all the water it needs from its food. Famous savanna “gazelles” such as Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles now sit in separate genera, Eudorcas and Nanger.

Gazelle abilities

Fewer chases for strong stotters (Thomson’s)Still debated
When a gazelle spots a predator, it may bounce away in high, stiff-legged leaps with its head held up. This is stotting, and it seems to be a message to the hunter as well as to other gazelles.
- Dorcas gazelles stot to warn others that a predator is near.
- In Thomson’s gazelles, biologist Tim Caro found evidence that stotting tells a cheetah it has been seen. It did not simply make cheetahs give up the chase.
- African wild dogs were more likely to chase Thomson’s gazelles that stotted at lower rates. So stotting may be an honest sign that a gazelle is fit and hard to catch.
- In goitered gazelles, mothers stot most at the end of the fawn-hiding period, perhaps to warn and teach their young. Who the message is really for is still debated.
Sources [1, 8, 11, 12, 13]
70 km/h Thomson’s gazelle top speed
Gazelles escape by running in the open. The best-sourced figure is for Thomson’s gazelle, a savanna cousin: up to 70 km/h.
- That figure comes from the Animal Diversity Web. We found no measurement behind the popular claim of 97 km/h.
- A Thomson’s gazelle can outrun a cheetah if it stays out of reach long enough, because the cat can only keep up its top speed for a short time.
- We found no reliable top speed for the Dorcas gazelle, so the readout shows its cousin’s number.
Sources [1, 7]
No drinking needed by Dorcas gazelles
Dorcas gazelles can get all the moisture they need from their food, so they never need to drink.
- When it is very dry, they mainly browse the leaves, flowers and pods of acacia trees, because these contain lots of moisture.
- When it is very hot, they feed mainly at dawn, at dusk and at night.
- Wild Arabian sand gazelles, another Gazella species, also lived through desert summers on the water already in their food, without becoming dehydrated.
Sources [9, 14]
2.6 °C daily body-temperature swing (sand gazelle, summer)
Instead of spending precious water to stay cool, Arabian sand gazelles let their bodies warm up by day and cool down again at night.
- In wild sand gazelles in Saudi Arabia, body temperature swung by about 2.6 °C a day in summer and 1.7 °C in winter, rising by more than 2 °C on hot days.
- Losing that stored heat by sweating or panting would cost about 33.5 ml of water a day in summer.
- Their evaporative water loss was only about 17% of what is expected for an animal their size, the lowest ever measured in a desert hoofed mammal.
- After 4 months on less food and water, captive sand gazelles had smaller livers, hearts and muscles, and used less energy and water.
Water lost by evaporation, for its size
Arabian sand gazelle (measured)17%
Expected for an animal its size100%
Well-watered captive sand gazelles; 100% is the prediction from body size.
Sources [14, 15]
Side eyes for a wide view
A Dorcas gazelle relies mainly on its keen eyesight to spot predators across open ground.
- Its eyes sit on the sides of its head. Across mammals, the more sideways the eyes face, the less their views overlap in front.
- Across 50 mammal species, faster runners tend to have bigger eyes.
- In a group, many eyes share the watching, so each gazelle can spend more time feeding.
Sources [1, 4, 5, 8]
2 weeks a Dorcas fawn spends hidden
A newborn Dorcas gazelle does not follow its mother. It lies hidden in a scrape or under a bush while she feeds nearby.
- Fawns are born with fur and open eyes and try to stand within an hour, but for their first 2 weeks they lie hidden.
- The mother nurses her fawn for 1–2 minutes several times a day. At about 3 months it is weaned, and the two rejoin the herd.
- Thomson’s gazelle fawns drop flat when danger comes. Fawns whose mothers spotted cheetahs from further away were more likely to survive.
- If you ever see a fawn lying alone, leave it where it is and move away quietly. Its mother is probably close by.
Sources [1, 9, 16]
20–24 rings on a male Dorcas’s horns
Gazelle horns grow from the skull and stay for life. Unlike deer antlers, they are never shed.
- Each horn is a bony core covered by skin and a sheath of keratin, the same tough protein as your fingernails.
- Deer drop their antlers every spring and grow new ones. Gazelles, like other members of the cattle family, keep their horns.
- Female Dorcas gazelles have horns too: 17–19 cm against 25–28 cm for males.
- Across the cattle family, females are more likely to carry horns in bigger species that live in open country and cannot hide, which suggests horns help them fight off predators.
Sources [1, 2, 3, 17]
25 km² a male’s home range
In the mating season, male Dorcas gazelles guard territories marked with their droppings, probably a scent signpost for other gazelles.
- The mating season runs from September to November.
- A male with a small group of females and young uses a home range of about 25 km².
- Gazelles communicate with sight, sound and smell. Males without a group sometimes roam in bachelor groups of 4 or 5.
Sources [1]

Tap a pin on the model or a part below.

25–28 cm male Dorcas horns
- Both male and female Dorcas gazelles have horns. A male’s are 25–28 cm long with 20–24 rings; a female’s are shorter (17–19 cm), straighter and thinner, with 16–18 rings.
- Dorcas horns are the most strongly curved of any gazelle in the genus Gazella.
- A horn is a bony core covered by skin and a sheath of keratin. Horns stay for life, while deer drop their antlers every spring and grow new ones.
Sources [1, 2, 3]
Eyesight its main predator alarm
- A Dorcas gazelle relies mainly on its keen eyesight to watch for predators.
- Its eyes sit on the sides of the head. Across mammals, the more sideways the eyes face, the less the views of the two eyes overlap.
- In a study of 50 mammal species, faster runners tended to have bigger eyes, perhaps to see sharply and avoid obstacles at speed.
Sources [1, 4, 5]
- Many gazelles have a striped face. In the mountain gazelle, an off-white stripe runs down the face with a black edge below it.
- In Thomson’s gazelle, a broad white stripe runs from the eye to the nose, bordered below by a black stripe.
- Stripes, horn shapes and rump patterns help people tell gazelle species apart. We found no study that uses face stripes to recognise individual gazelles.
Sources [6, 7]
Bark alarm call
- A Dorcas gazelle’s alarm call sounds like a short bark. A louder call is used in extreme danger or pain.
- Mothers call their young with a low grunt.
- Goitered gazelles, another Gazella species, also give an alarm hiss. Mothers hiss more than males do.
Sources [1, 8]
Acacia dry-season favourite
- In dry times, Dorcas gazelles mostly browse the leaves, flowers and pods of acacia trees, which hold lots of moisture.
- In the wet season they eat more herbs and grasses, including freshly sprouted leaves after winter rains.
- Along with other hoofed animals, they are the main seed spreaders for several acacias between the Red Sea and Israel.
Sources [1, 9]
Ruminant a cud-chewer, like goats
- Gazelles are ruminants, like cattle, goats and deer: they chew the cud and have a stomach with several chambers, starting with a big one called the rumen.
- When scientists measured the guts of Arabian sand gazelles, the layout looked more like that of leaf-eating ruminants such as moose, or in between, than like the gut of grass-eating cattle.
Sources [10]
70 km/h Thomson’s gazelle top speed
- Long, thin legs make gazelles built for running.
- Thomson’s gazelle, an East African cousin in the genus Eudorcas, can run at up to 70 km/h. It can outlast a cheetah, which can only keep up its top speed for a short time.
- We found no reliable measured top speed for the Dorcas gazelle.
Sources [1, 7]
White belly
- A Dorcas gazelle is pale, with a white belly and a brown stripe along each side.
- Colours change from place to place: ochre with darker side stripes in the northern Sahara, reddish-brown with fainter, light side stripes near the Red Sea.
- Thomson’s gazelle has a much bolder black side stripe between its reddish-brown back and white belly.
Sources [1, 7]
- Tail twitching and skin shivering are two of the signals a Dorcas gazelle uses to warn others that a predator is near.
- Goitered gazelles may also wee and poo when alarmed. Scientists think this might work as an alarm signal too, but it needs more study.
Sources [1, 8]

Real gazelles

Photos from Wikimedia Commons. Some of them can repaint the 3D model.

Dorcas gazelle (male)Pale sandy fawn with a white belly and a brown stripe on each side. Thick, strongly curved horns 25–28 cm long, with 20–24 rings.Vulnerable (IUCN)Dorcas gazelle, Souss-Massa National Park, Morocco. Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dorcas gazelle near Ezuz in the Negev, IsraelPhoto: MinoZig, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dorcas gazelles in Bouhedma National Park, TunisiaPhoto: Skander zarrad, CC BY-SA 4.0
After the rains: spring flowers in Bouhedma National Park, TunisiaPhoto: Skander zarrad, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dorcas gazelle in MoroccoPhoto: Justin Philbois, CC0
Dorcas gazelle in AlgeriaPhoto: Mourad Harzallah, CC BY 4.0
Mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella)Larger: males 17–29.5 kg. Off-white face stripe with a black lower edge. Males have thick, ringed horns 22–29 cm long; females have shorter, unringed horns of 8–15 cm.Endangered (IUCN)Mountain gazelle in Israel. Photo: Ariel Shamir, CC BY 4.0
Mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella)Larger: males 17–29.5 kg. Off-white face stripe with a black lower edge. Males have thick, ringed horns 22–29 cm long; females have shorter, unringed horns of 8–15 cm.Endangered (IUCN)Mountain gazelle, Hevel Lakhish, Israel. Photo: MinoZig, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dorcas fawnBorn with fur and open eyes after about 6 months in the womb. There is almost always just one fawn.Lies hidden for its first 2 weeks; weaned at about 3 monthsA fawn of the Arabian sand gazelle, a Gazella cousin, King Salman Royal Reserve, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Saudi Press Agency (SPA), CC BY-SA 4.0

Gazelle by the numbers

Measured by scientists and zoos. Most numbers are for the Dorcas gazelle; we say when one is for a cousin.

Weight: 15–20 kg; adult Dorcas gazelle; males average 16.5 kg, females 12.6 kg⁠[9, 1]
Shoulder height: 55–65 cm; Dorcas gazelle⁠[9]
Length: 90–110 cm; head and body, Dorcas gazelle⁠[9]
Horn length: 25–28 cm; males; females 17–19 cm⁠[1]; Male (up to)28 cmFemale (up to)19 cm
Top speed: 70 km/h; Thomson’s gazelle (genus Eudorcas); no reliable figure for the Dorcas gazelle⁠[7]
Water lost by evaporation: 17%; of the amount expected for its size, in the Arabian sand gazelle: the lowest measured in a desert hoofed mammal⁠[15]
Pregnancy: ≈6 months; about 182 days; almost always one fawn⁠[1]
Fawn hiding: 2 weeks; a newborn Dorcas fawn lies hidden while its mother feeds nearby⁠[9]
Home range: 25 km²; a male Dorcas with his small group of females and young⁠[1]
Lifespan: Up to ≈12 years; Dorcas gazelle; zoo animals have lived 15–17 years⁠[9, 1]

Gazelle myths and facts

Tap Myth or Fact for each claim, then check the answer.

0 of 8 answered

“Thomson’s gazelle and Grant’s gazelle are members of the genus Gazella.”
“Gazelles can run at 97 km/h.”
“Stotting is just a gazelle showing off or playing.”
“A Dorcas gazelle never needs to drink.”
“Gazelles shed their horns every year, like deer.”
“Only male gazelles have horns.”
“A gazelle fawn lying alone has been abandoned.”
“Gazelles let their bodies heat up to save water.”

Gazelle records

Superlatives and record holders, each checked against its source.

Thriftiest with water
17%
Arabian sand gazelle (Gazella marica)
of the evaporative water loss expected for its size: the lowest ever measured in a desert hoofed mammal⁠[15, 23]
Curviest Gazella horns
Most curved
Dorcas gazelle
the most strongly curved horns in the genus Gazella⁠[1]
Desert specialist
Driest
Dorcas gazelle
the member of Gazella best equipped to live in dry areas⁠[1]
Fastest sourced gazelle
70 km/h
Thomson’s gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii)
the best-sourced top speed we found for any gazelle⁠[7]
Last of their kind in Israel
≈30
Arabian gazelle (Gazella arabica)
animals left in Israel, even though they are protected from hunting and habitat loss⁠[24]
Lost for good
Extinct
Saudi gazelle (Gazella saudiya)
no sign of it even in captive herds once thought to be Saudi gazelles⁠[25, 26]

A year in the life of a Dorcas gazelle

From the autumn mating season to a fawn’s first months.

September–November
Mating season
Males guard territories marked with their droppings.⁠[1]
About 6 months later
One fawn
After a pregnancy of about 182 days, the mother gives birth to a single fawn with fur and open eyes.⁠[1]
First hour
Wobbly legs
The newborn tries to stand within an hour of birth.⁠[9]
First 2 weeks
Lying out
The fawn lies hidden in a scrape or under a bush while its mother feeds nearby.⁠[9]
Up to 3 months
Milk breaks
The mother nurses it for 1–2 minutes several times a day. At about 3 months it is weaned and they rejoin the herd.⁠[1, 9]
After rain
Green feast
Gazelles eat freshly sprouted leaves, herbs and grasses.⁠[1, 9]
Dry season
Acacia time
They mostly browse acacia leaves, flowers and pods. On very hot days they feed at dawn, at dusk and at night.⁠[9]
1–2 years
Growing up
Young gazelles stay with their birth group for a year or more. Males can breed from about 19 months and females from about 2 years.⁠[1]

Dorcas gazelle vs mountain gazelle vs Thomson’s gazelle

Two true Gazella gazelles and a savanna cousin that now has its own genus.

Dorcas gazelle vs mountain gazelle vs Thomson’s gazelle
	Dorcas gazelle	Mountain gazelle	Thomson’s gazelle
Scientific name⁠[1, 6, 7]	Gazella dorcas	Gazella gazella	Eudorcas thomsonii
Genus⁠[21]	Gazella	Gazella	Eudorcas (once Gazella)
Weight⁠[9, 6, 7]	15–20 kg	Males 17–29.5 kg, females 16–25 kg	15–35 kg
Male horns⁠[1, 6, 7]	25–28 cm, 20–24 rings	22–29 cm, thick, strongly ringed	Curve back, then forward at the tips
Female horns⁠[1, 6, 7]	17–19 cm, 16–18 rings	8–15 cm, no rings	Smaller, or none
Stripes⁠[1, 6, 7]	Brown side stripes, fainter in some regions	Off-white face stripe with a black lower edge	Bold black side stripe; white face stripe edged in black
Home⁠[1, 6, 19, 7]	Deserts, semi-deserts, dunes and wadis	Hills, scrub and grassland	Savanna and grassland
IUCN status⁠[18, 20, 27]	Vulnerable	Endangered	Least Concern

Thomson’s gazelle used to be called Gazella thomsonii. DNA shows that Eudorcas, like Nanger (Grant’s gazelle), is a separate branch from Gazella.

Are gazelles endangered?

Many are. Of the 9 living Gazella species on this card, 8 are rated Vulnerable or Endangered, and two species have already died out.

IUCN Red List

Varies by species

Gazella species are assessed one by one. The Dorcas gazelle is Vulnerable and the mountain gazelle is Endangered. The Saudi gazelle and Queen of Sheba’s gazelle are Extinct.⁠[18, 20, 26, 28]

IUCN Red List, via Wikidata and GBIF (October 2026)

Threats

Hunting
Overhunting wiped mountain gazelles out of most of their old range, and hunting still threatens Dorcas gazelles.⁠[19, 9]
Farming and overgrazing
Habitat is lost to farming and worn down by too many grazing livestock.⁠[9]
Drought
Long dry spells add to the pressure on desert gazelles.⁠[9]
Roads, dogs and jackals
In Israel, mountain gazelles are killed on roads and hunted by jackals and feral dogs.⁠[19]
Tiny populations
Only about 30 Arabian gazelles survive in Israel, even though they are protected from hunting and habitat destruction.⁠[24]

What’s helping

Trade rules
Dorcas gazelles are listed on CITES Appendix III for Algeria and Tunisia, which restricts trade from those countries.⁠[9]
Nature reserves
Scientists studying mountain gazelles in Israeli reserves found that cattle and gazelles eat quite different plants, which helps managers plan grazing.⁠[19]
DNA checks
DNA from old museum specimens showed which captive herds were not Saudi gazelles, so breeding and release plans can use the right animals.⁠[25]

Gazella species and their status

Mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella)Endangered
Once common across the Levant.⁠[20, 19]
Arabian gazelle (Gazella arabica)Vulnerable
Gone from large parts of Arabia; about 30 left in Israel.⁠[29, 24]
Arabian sand gazelle (Gazella marica)Vulnerable
The record-breaking water saver.⁠[23, 15]
Goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa)Vulnerable
Mothers seem to stot and hiss to warn their fawns.⁠[30, 8]
Chinkara (Gazella bennettii)Least Concern
The only living Gazella on this list rated Least Concern.⁠[31]
Rhim gazelle (Gazella leptoceros)Endangered
Also called the slender-horned gazelle.⁠[32]
Cuvier’s gazelle (Gazella cuvieri)Vulnerable
Listed as Vulnerable.⁠[33]
Speke’s gazelle (Gazella spekei)Endangered
Listed as Endangered.⁠[34]
Saudi gazelle (Gazella saudiya)Extinct
Closest relative of the Dorcas gazelle; no evidence it survives.⁠[26, 25]
Queen of Sheba’s gazelle (Gazella bilkis)Extinct
Listed as Extinct.⁠[28]

Gazelle quiz

12 questions. Every answer is somewhere on this page.

Question 1 of 12Score 0

Which genus is the Dorcas gazelle in?

Gazelle field notes

Diet, food web, safety and badges from the Snappit field guide.

Diet & Feeding

Gazelles munch on various plants like grasses, leaves, and shoots to stay healthy and energetic.

Primary Foods

grasses
leaves
shrubs
forbs
shoots
herbs
Foraging Method: Grazing

Ecological connections

CheetahPredator, now rare
a gazelle predator in open country, now rare
LionFormer predator
former predator of these gazelles; lions are now largely gone from desert gazelle country
African Wild DogPredator of savanna gazelles
hunts savanna gazelles such as Thomson's gazelle
Umbrella Thorn AcaciaEats
browses leaves and pods from this hardy tree
Bermuda GrassEats
grazes on the plentiful shoots of this common grass
Golden JackalEaten by
In Israel, jackals hunt mountain gazelles.

Safety

Danger 1/5 · Very low

Admire gazelles from a safe distance and never approach them in the wild.

Traits

Collections

Mammals

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Genus: Gazella

Sources for these gazelle facts

34 studies and references · checked Oct 16, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How to identify Gazelle?

Compare ears, muzzle, tail, feet and coat markings. Size is hard to judge without something nearby for scale, and young mammals may not have adult coloring yet. Mammal Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

How long is Gazelle?

90-150 cm

How much does Gazelle weigh?

15-30 kg

How long does Gazelle live?

10-15 years

What does Gazelle eat?

Gazelles munch on various plants like grasses, leaves, and shoots to stay healthy and energetic.

Where is Gazelle usually found?

Deserts and semi-deserts

How many babies does Gazelle usually have?

How fast can a gazelle run?

Thomson’s gazelle, an East African species now in the genus Eudorcas, can run at up to 70 km/h. We found no reliable measured top speed for Gazella species such as the Dorcas gazelle, and no source for the popular claim of 97 km/h.

Do gazelles need to drink water?

Dorcas gazelles never need to drink: they get all the moisture they need from their food, especially acacia leaves, flowers and pods. Arabian sand gazelles also live on the water in their food and save water by letting their body warm up during the day.

Why do gazelles jump straight up when a predator is near?

That bouncing leap is called stotting. In Thomson’s gazelles it seems to tell a predator it has been seen, and wild dogs chose gazelles that stotted less, so it may show how fit a gazelle is. It also warns other gazelles. Scientists still debate its main purpose.

Do female gazelles have horns?

In many species, yes. Female Dorcas gazelles have horns 17–19 cm long, and female mountain gazelles 8–15 cm, shorter than males’. In Thomson’s gazelle, females have small horns or none.

Is Thomson’s gazelle a Gazella?

Not any more. DNA studies show the genus Gazella is closer to the Indian blackbuck than to Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, which are now placed in Eudorcas and Nanger.

Are gazelles endangered?

Many are. The Dorcas gazelle is Vulnerable and the mountain gazelle Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and the Saudi gazelle and Queen of Sheba’s gazelle are Extinct. Hunting, habitat loss and overgrazing are the main threats.

What eats gazelles?

Dorcas gazelles were hunted by cheetahs, lions, leopards, servals, caracals, wolves and hyenas, and fawns by foxes, eagles and jackals. Many of these predators have disappeared from where Dorcas gazelles live. Today adults are mainly threatened by people, wolves, caracals and golden jackals, and by domestic dogs near villages.

Is a gazelle an antelope?

Yes. Gazelles are antelopes in the cattle family, Bovidae, in a group called Antilopini that also includes the springbok, the saiga and the blackbuck.

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