The Arabian gazelle (Gazella arabica) is an antelope species in the genus Gazella. Gazelle is derived from Arabic: غزال ġazāl, Maghrebi pronunciation ġazēl. The Arab people traditionally hunted the gazelle, however, later appreciated for their grace, these beautiful animals became a symbol most commonly associated in Arabic literature with human female beauty.
Arabian gazelles have dark brown coats and white underparts. Their tails are short and black in color. Both the males and females have horns and males tend to be larger than females.
These graceful gazelles are found across the Arabian Peninsula where they inhabit hilly and mountainous regions, deserts, sand dunes, shrublands, and coastal flats.
Arabian gazelles live in groups. They spend their days high in the hills and at night and early morning come down to forage. Gazelles are known as swift animals. Some are able to run at bursts as high as 100 km/h (60 mph) or run at a sustained speed of 50 km/h (30 mph). Gazelles have acute hearing, vision, and sense of smell which help them to find food and detect and flee from predators.
Arabian gazelles are herbivores and eat shrubs, grasses, herbs and forbs.
Little information is known about the reproductive behavior of Arabian gazelles. Unlike other species of gazelle which typically give birth to a single calf, female Arabian gazelles regularly give birth to twins.
Arabian gazelles are threatened by many environmental factors, such as human hunting, predation, competition, and climate change. The decline in population is due to human disturbances such as construction and illegal hunting. Other factors include temperature change, and predation (mainly by wolves).
According to IUCN Red List, the total population size of the Arabian gazelle is estimated to be below 10,000 mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are decreasing.
