| East African oryx | |
|---|---|
_female.jpg) | |
| O. b. beisa (female) Awash National Park,Ethiopia | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Hippotraginae |
| Genus: | Oryx |
| Species: | O. beisa |
| Binomial name | |
| Oryx beisa (Rüppell, 1835) | |
| Subspecies | |
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| East African oryx range.[2] | |
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| Enlarged distribution map.[2][3] | |
TheEast African oryx (Oryx beisa), also known as thebeisa,[4] is aspecies of medium-sizedantelope fromEast Africa. It has twosubspecies: thecommon beisa oryx (Oryx beisa beisa) found insteppe and semidesert throughout theHorn of Africa and north of theTana River, and thefringe-eared oryx (Oryx beisa callotis) south of the Tana River in southernKenya and parts ofTanzania. The species is listed as Endangered by the IUCN.
In the past, sometaxonomists considered it a subspecies of thegemsbok (Oryx gazella), but they are genetically distinct; thediploid chromosome count is 56 for the beisa and 58 for the gemsbok.[citation needed]
The East African oryx stands just over a metre at the shoulder andweighs around 175 lb (79 kg). It has a grey coat with a white underside, separated from the grey by a stripe of black, with black stripes where the head attaches to the neck, along the nose, and from the eye to the mouth and on the forehead. The mane is small and chestnut-coloured; the ringed horns are thin and straight. They are found on both sexes and typically measure 75–80 cm (30–31 in). Comparably, the gemsbok has an entirely black tail, a black patch at the base of the tail, and more black on the legs (including a patch on the hindlegs) and lower flanks. The smallerArabian oryx is overall whiter with largely dark legs.
East African oryx live in semidesert and steppes, where they eatgrasses,leaves,fruit andbuds. They are able to store water by raising their body temperatures (so as to avoidperspiration). They gather in herds of five to 40 animals, often with females moving at the front and a large male guarding from the rear. Some older males are solitary. Radio tracking studies show the solitary males are often accompanied for brief periods by breeding-condition females, so it is probable they are executing a strategy to maximise their chances of reproduction.
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