Dama gazelle

Description

With 140-165 cm of length,90-120 cm of height at the withers and 40-75 kg of weight,the gazelle dama is the largest of gazelles,with proportionally short trunk but with very long legs and neck.It has short horns (29-43 cm in length) and thin horns,strongly curved backwards,almost parallel to the back with points turned upwards;they have 18-23 rings.The hair is short and thick and the color varies with age,season and geographical distribution.The facial mask is very pale or absent and the white areas on the rump,buttocks and hips are very extensive.At the middle of the neck,at the front,there is a white crescent-shaped spot;also the shoulders and the chest are always white.The western subspecies (N.d.mhorr,practically extinct in its natural state) has brown-red outer parts and legs.The central and southern subspecies ( N.d.Dama ) has very large white parts at the expense of the brown-red color which,on the thighs,is reduced to a median line.Finally,in the eastern subspecies ( N.d.Ruficollis ) white is predominant and only the neck and the withers are reddish;however,the color gradually varies from east to west.Cheeks and forehead are always white,especially in adults.