Mongolian gazelle
Mongolian gazelle | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Bovidae |
Subfamily: | Antilopinae |
Tribe: | Antilopini |
Genus: | Procapra |
Species: | P. gutturosa
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Binomial name | |
Procapra gutturosa (Pallas, 1777)
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Synonyms[2] | |
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The Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa), or dzeren (Russian: Дзерэн), is a medium-sized
Description
While the dzeren and its two sister-species (the
In the summer, the dzeren has coat of tawny light brown with pale pinkish tones, which grows thicker, longer and paler during the winter. It also has a distinctive, heart-shaped white patch on its rump area, divided by a median line of darker color. The male has lyre-shaped horns which curl backwards from the forehead. It is an extremely capable long-distance runner and a good swimmer.
In the winter, they are mostly diurnal, but in the summer, they are active shortly after sunrise and before sunset. They tend to travel a lot, and migrations takes place in spring and autumn, but the distance and direction vary depending on the weather and food availability.
The groups usually consists of 20-30 individuals in the summer, and 100 in the winter. However, herds up to 5,000 individuals are not unusual. They still exist in large numbers, with a small captive population; the population trend is unknown. In 2007, a mega-herd of a quarter of a million Mongolian gazelles was seen gathering on the country's steppes, one of the world's last great wildernesses.[3]
The mating season is in the late autumn or winter; at this time, the males' throats swell in a
Relationship with humans
The Mongolian gazelle is still one of the most numerous large animals in the world, with the total population around 1.5 million individuals, but roughly 100,000 are killed each year. However, the conservation status is at least concern. Whether the population is increasing or decreasing is unknown, but the population is known to be subject to significant fluctuations due to diseases and severe winters. They have been hunted for millennia—a passage in the 13th-century Secret History of the Mongols tells how a young Shigi Qutuqu managed to round up a herd of gazelles in a winter blizzard.[5]
References
- . Retrieved 19 February 2022. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.
- ^ BioLib
- ^ BBC: Largest herd of gazelles sighted
- ^ Ultimateungulate.com
- ^ Ratchnevsky, Paul (1993). "Sigi Qutuqu (c. 1180–c. 1260)". In de Rachewiltz, Igor (ed.). In the Service of the Khan: Eminent Personalities of the Early Mongol-Yüan Period (1200-1300). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 77.