The dama gazelle (Nanger dama), also known as the addra gazelle or mhorr gazelle, is a species of gazelle. It lives in Africa, in the Sahara desert and the Sahel. A critically endangered species, it has disappeared from most of its former range due to overhunting and habitat loss, and natural populations only remain in Chad, Mali, and Niger. Its habitat includes grassland, shrubland, semi-deserts, open savanna and mountain plateaus. Its diet includes shrubs, herbs, grasses, leaves (especially Acacia leaves), shoots, and fruit.
In Niger, the dama gazelle has become a national symbol. Under the Hausa name meyna or ménas, the dama gazelle appears on the badge of the Niger national football team, who are popularly called the Ménas.
The dama gazelle is white with a reddish-brown head and neck. Both sexes usually have medium-length ringed horns curved like an "S". Males' horns are about 35 cm (14 in) long, while females' horns are much shorter. The head is small with a narrow muzzle, and the eyes are relatively large. It has a longer neck and longer legs than most gazelles. It is between 90 and 95 cm (35 and 37 in) tall at the shoulder, weighs between 35 and 75 kg (77 and 165 lb), and has a lifespan up to 12 years in the wild or 18 in captivity. A few days following birth, dama young are strong enough to follow the herd, and after a week, they are able to run as fast as the adults. The dama gazelle is considered the largest species of gazelle, with incredibly long legs, which provide extra surface area to dissipate heat, one of the many ways it stays cool in its hot desert environment. It also tends to need more water than some of its desert relatives, but it can withstand fairly long periods of drought. Unlike many other desert mammals, the dama gazelle is a diurnal species, meaning it is active during the day. Always on the alert, the dama gazelle uses a behavior called pronking to warn herd members of danger. Pronking involves the animal hopping up and down with all four of its legs stiff, so that its limbs all leave and touch the ground at the same time. Males also establish territories, and during breeding season, they actively exclude other mature males. They mark their territories with urine and dung piles and secretions from glands near their eyes.
The Dama gazelle does not need a lot of water, but it needs more than other desert animals. It is not as resistant and perishes from a lack of water during the drought season. The environment has become ill-suited for it. Habitat pressure from pastoral activity is another reason for decline, as are introduced diseases from livestock.
Another reason for the decline of the dama gazelle is habitat destruction. Humans cut down the branches of the trees on which this gazelle feeds. As a result, the trees die and the gazelle cannot eat. Human threats are the most dangerous of threats to the dama gazelle. The main reason this species of gazelle is endangered is because of mechanized hunting; hunters using vehicles increase its decline. Civil unrest, for instance in Sudan, also negatively affects the life of the dama gazelle. Since the gazelle is already having a hard time surviving, these conditions have made its habitat unsuitable. A potential threat the dama gazelle faces is tourism. Tourists want to take pictures of this endangered species, and in doing so, may be perceived as a threat, especially during the hot season. Gazelles will run away from perceived danger, and in the hot season may overheat and die of stress.
The dama gazelle's historical range included the desert and arid zones of Chad (eastern), and the Darfur and Kordofan Provinces of Sudan. Due to wars in their range, habitat destruction, desertification, overhunting, and human and livestock population expansion, they are now extremely rare, occurring only as vagrants or in pockets
The life span of the dama gazelle is unknown in the wild. In human care, individual males have lived up to 15 years and individual females have lived up to 19 years.
Dama gazelles obtain most of their water from the plants they consume. Their diet includes various desert shrubs and acacias, along with rough desert grasses.
At the Zoo, they eat orchard grass hay and alfalfa hay — about a flake each per day. In addition they eat roughly 2.5 pounds of herbivore pellet per day, with leaf eater biscuits and browse as treats.
