Cuvier's gazelle (''Gazella cuvieri'') is a species of

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, ' ...

native to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

, and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. It is also known as the edmi.Ultimate ungulate.com
It is one of the darkest gazelle species, possibly an adaptation to its partial

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. It is sometimes placed into the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Trachelocele'' together with the goitered gazelles and the rhim gazelles.

Characteristics

Cuvier's gazelle is one of the darkest and smallest of the gazelle species, standing tall, with an average weight of . It is characterized by a distinctive wide, dark band that runs along the sides of the animal, which separates the brown dorsal parts from the white ventral parts. They possess long, slender ears. While both sexes have horns between long, the male's horns are more ribbed and have greater mass. The purpose of the dark bands that run parallel along the side of the animal is to aid in

countershading Countershading, or Thayer's law, is a method of camouflage in which animal coloration, an animal's coloration is darker on the top or upper side and lighter on the underside of the body. This pattern is found in many species of mammals, reptile ...

, having ventral body

pelage A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

that is more lightly colored that the dorsal surface to counteract the effect of the body's self-shadowing.

Status

In the past, the reason for decline of the gazelle was

overhunting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

for skins, meat, and trophies. In the 1930s, it was already considered one of the rarest gazelles, but it was not listed as endangered until the 1960s. Though it is now unlawful to hunt the animal, they still suffer from

stress due to local

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s destroying habitat for pastureland and competition from

domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and goats. Once thought to be extinct in the wild, the gazelle's population is now thought to be less than 2000, occupying small pockets of the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

. Many of the animals can be found on protected land in Tunisia, but this is not the case in Morocco and Algeria, where many of the animals are still being outcompeted for food from livestock. One of the most important refuges is Djebel Chambi National Park, which holds the largest population in Tunisia. A reintroduction program was conducted in the Tunisian Jebel Serj National Park: In 2019, 30 gazelles were released, all born in Tunisia over the course of three breeding seasons, out of a carefully considered Spanish stock of gazelles bred in captivity in Almeria and the Canari Island. The reintroduced population multiplied and is progressively increasing. In Algeria the 200,000 ha Saharan Atlas National Park is a refuge for about a hundred Cuvier's gazelles. The Belezma National Park has about 20, but this figure is uncertain and a reintroduction has been planned.David P. Mallon, Steven Charles Kingswood eds. ''Antelopes: North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.'' p. 27

Habitat

Cuvier's gazelle inhabits the Atlas Mountains in Northwestern Africa.STLZoo.org
It is found in many different types of landscapes. The preference is for sandy or stony hills and

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

s. They also occupy areas of regenerating forests and lush

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. During the early morning and late evening they come out of the mountains to graze in the low

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

s. Then in the afternoon, they will travel back up the mountain into the forests and find a cool place to spend the day.

Behavior

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

ruminants, the diet of Cuvier's gazelle consists entirely of leaves,

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

es, and other vegetation. They will consume large amounts of greenery and find a cool place during the day to finish chewing their cuds, remnant wads of food that return from the stomach (eructation) to be chewed a second time for further digestion. Their main defense is their alertness. When sensing something suspicious, they will set off an alert signal by flicking their tails and performing a strong gait, of jumping into the air and having all four hooves land on the ground at the same time. Along with their alertness, they are also one of the fastest gazelles, reaching and sustaining top speeds over 50 mph. Cuvier's gazelle tend to live in social groups of three or four during mating season, but usually not more than eight. Groups tend to contain one male and up to three females each with up to two offspring. During the mating season, the dominant males will force the younger males out of the social group; they will form bachelor groups. Then, the females will leave the group to give birth. After giving birth, females will join bachelor groups and live the rest of mating season with them.

Reproduction

With the

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

period lasting around 160 days, the gazelles tend to breed in the winter and give birth in the early spring. Before giving birth, the mother will separate herself from the herd to give birth, and then hide the newborn in the thick underbrush outside the herd, returning occasionally to nurse it. This occurs for the first month until the newborn begins to eat vegetation, but still relying on nourishment from its mother. Cuvier's gazelle is one of the few gazelle species to frequently give birth to twins (40.5%), with singlets weighing an average of and twins weighing an average of . Ten days after giving birth, the females may breed again, giving birth to two sets of offspring per year. Newborn females can become fertile as early as 27 weeks and can give birth as soon as 70 weeks of age.

References

Naturalsciences.beCuvier’s gazelle at The Living Desert

External links

*ARKive
images and movies of the Cuvier's gazelle ''(Gazella cuvieri)''
{{DEFAULTSORT:gazelle, Cuvier's Cuvier's gazelle Antelopes of North Africa Cuvier's gazelle Taxa named by William Ogilby Fauna of Morocco Fauna of Algeria Fauna of Western Sahara Fauna of Tunisia