Short-tailed gazelles
| Short-tailed gazelles | ||||||||||||
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Tibetan Gazelle ( Procapra picticaudata ) |
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| Procapra | ||||||||||||
| Hodgson , 1846 |
The short-tailed gazelles ( Procapra ) are a genus of Central Asian antelopes that are closely related to the "real" gazelles . They differ from these by having a stubby tail and the fact that only the males have horns and the females are hornless.
A Mongolian gazelle is 140 cm long, 80 cm high to the shoulder and weighs 40 kg. It is orange on the top in summer and cinnamon on the sides, while in winter the entire coat appears pale.
habitat
The habitat of all three species are dry steppes and semi-deserts. They rise in the mountains to over 5500 m.
Way of life
While they are diurnal in winter, they limit their activity to twilight on hot summer days. They move in herds of twenty to thirty animals, but can also group together to form several thousand animals for seasonal migrations.
Systematics
Three species are distinguished within the genus of the short-tailed gazelle:
- Tibetan gazelle ( Procapra picticaudata )
- Przewalski's gazelle ( Procapra przewalskii )
- Mongolian gazelle ( Procapra gutturosa )
The genus is occasionally classified as a sub-genus of the gazelles ( Gazella ).
Existence and endangerment
The Mongolian gazelle was once one of the most common large animals in Mongolia . Once their population was around 1.5 million animals. Excessive hunting wiped out the populations in western Mongolia. About 300,000 gazelles survived in the east.
The population of the Tibetan gazelle also fell from several million to 10,000 animals. The Przewalski gazelle is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN . In 2003, a census showed only 250 animals, all of which were in the vicinity of Lake Qinghai in central China .
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
