Endangered
Przewalski's gazelle
Procapra przewalskii
Przewalski's gazelle is a member of the family Bovidae, and in the wild, is found only in China.
Appearance
The tail is short, measuring only 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in), and is often entirely hidden by fur. The animal is yellowish brown with a white underside and a white heart-shaped patch on its rump, partially bisected by a light brown vertical line. Males are darker in colour than females, and the coat of both sexes is more noticeably greyish in winter.
In the adult, the horns reach 18 to 26 cm (7.1 to 10.2 in) in length.
Range and habitat
Even so, it is now found only in a single small area around Qinghai Lake, having been extirpated across the great majority of its former range. It inhabits flat open valleys and steppeland between mountains, and the sand dunes and semi-desert zones around lakes. Two sub-species have been described, although one is now believed to be extinct: P. Przewalskii przewalskii - Qinghai P. Przewalskii diversicornis † - Gansu and the Ordos Loop region Przewalski's gazelle is a member of the family Bovidae, and in the wild, is found only in China.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
The preferred diet of Przewalski's gazelles consists of sedges and grasses, supplemented by herbs and shrubs such as Astragalus. The diet of Przewalski's gazelles has remained largely unchanged since the Early Holocene, as evidenced by analyses of both enamel δ13C and dental microwear of Przewalski's gazelle specimens from the Qinghai Lake Basin dating back to between 8900 and 7900 BP.
Males are often solitary or travel in small groups of two or three individuals for much of the year, but gather together in small herds with the females during the winter rut. Courtship consists of the male moving towards the female while standing on his hind legs, and is followed by a brief copulation.
In crisis
Once widespread, its range has declined to six populations near Qinghai Lake. The many threats against the species include competition with domestic livestock and fencing of the natural habitat. Consequently, it is considered to be an endangered species by the IUCN.
Formerly, it was believed that as few as 250 remained, and it was considered critically endangered. Even so, this is now known to be an underestimate, with new subpopulations having been discovered in 2003 and 2006, and there were believed to be 350-400 (and possibly even more) mature individuals left.
Przewalski's 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 Przewalski's gazelle, Wikidata item Q382925. 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.
