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Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) Resting In The Tall Grass

Masai Mara National Reserve

Kenya

East Africa

 

While perhaps not as widely distributed as Grant's, Thomson's are still the most common gazelles in East Africa. Though their numbers have diminished in some areas, in others they have persisted on ranches and farmlands long after other species have disappeared.

 

The graceful "tommie" is noticeably smaller than the Grant's gazelle, which it resembles in shape and color. It is also distinguished from a Grant's by the dark side stripe that runs from the shoulder to the flank and the white patch on the rump.

 

The males are larger than the females and have strongly ridged, almost parallel horns that curve backwards, with the tips curving forward. Female tommies have short, smooth, pencil-slim horns, or none at all. The face is accented by a black stripe running down from the eye, a dark marking on the nose and a light patch on the forehead.

 

Although more reliant on water than Grant's gazelle, the tommy has adapted to the open plains and grasslands of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. Wikipedia

 

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Uploaded on March 18, 2024
Taken on January 20, 2015