Endangered
Mountain gazelle
Gazella gazella
Mountain gazelle is a mammal in the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla) — Gazella gazella, recorded as Endangered.
The mammal
A mature male can range from 15 to 25 kg, while females are 13–20 kg in weight.
Published measurements include mass about 2.125.
Range and habitat
Around dawn and dusk, these antelope will be found cautiously traversing the hills to eat in light forests, fields, or rocky plateaus. Given their preference for elevation, it seems they are less adapted to hot, dry conditions than other ungulates, like the Dorcas gazelle. This diminutive antelope appears to have outcompeted the mountain gazelle throughout some of its range in the late Holocene era, during a period of climatic warming. The mountain gazelle, also called the true gazelle or the Palestine mountain gazelle, is a gazelle that is widely but unevenly distributed.
The mountain gazelle is protected under Israeli law, with Israel being the last major sanctuary of the species in the Levant.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
There are two main herd-types in the mountain gazelle community, namely mother/baby "maternity" herds and bachelor male herds. Older, solitary males patrol and stake out territories, as well. Mountain gazelles often communicate vocally, with calls referring to threats, alarms, and courtship.
By 12 months, a female gazelle can begin breeding. For males, 18 months is when they will start breeding. Being polygamous, and not spending their lives with only one partner, the mountain gazelle typical breeding season is during the early winter months.
In crisis
Approximately 6,000 are left in the wild as of 2024. Small, isolated populations are also found in parts of Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and may be present (though unlikely) in Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria outside of the Golan Heights. The mountain gazelle is protected as an endangered species under Israeli law, with Israel described as "the last stronghold" of the species in the Levant.
A 2019 estimate found there are likely 300–1300 gazelles poached annually. As the mountain gazelle's habitat has become a more urban area of the world, there are numerous threats that to the population.
Mountain gazelle is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Mountain gazelle, Wikidata item Q754520. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
