Anyways, I thought I would post an animal for this week. What animal? Well, it is small, in the antelope family, and utterly adorable in my opinion. Meet the Thomson's Gazelle!
These tiny ungulates come from Africa, and are often hunted by cheetahs. Their average live span is usually between 10-12 years, and are social animals. They live in herds between 10-100+ individuals. They frequent the grassy plains of Africa, feeding on the various grasses found throughout.
These tiny gazelles are very fleet of foot, reaching speeds up to 40 mph! But for anyone who knows anything about cheetahs, they would know that is not nearly fast enough to outrun the swift cat. But they make up for this by making sharp turns and doing a behavior known as 'pronking', which involves jumping into the air. It is quite comical to watch, really. They do this in hopes that the predator chasing them won't be able to make the sharp turns or hurt themselves trying.
When it comes to breeding, Thomson's gazelles are like most on the savanna. They have a pregnancy of about 6 months, and give birth to 1-2 tiny calves. The babies will lay and hide in the grass while mom grazes nearby, hoping that no predators find them. They are very good at the hiding, and can avoid being seen for days or even weeks at a time! They are nursed periodically until they are able to join the herd. For females, it would be joining the mother's herd. But for young males, that means joining a bachelor herd.
The horns on males can grow to be about 17 inches long (43.18 cm), and there is an estimated total population of 550K individuals. That is a lot of gazelles, and this species is suspected to be the most common in East Africa. As for their name, they were named for researcher Joseph Thomson.
Sources:
- http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/thomsons-gazelle
- http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/gazelle/
