Speke's gazelle

Speke's gazelle
At the San Diego Zoo
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Antilopinae
Tribe: Antilopini
Genus: Gazella
Species: G. spekei
Binomial name
Gazella spekei
Blyth, 1863

Speke's gazelle (Gazella spekei) is the smallest of the gazelle species. It is confined to the Horn of Africa, where it inhabits stony brush, grass steppes, and semideserts.[2] This species has been sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the Dorcas gazelle, though this is now widely disregarded.[3] Severe habitat fragmentation means it is now impossible to assess the natural migratory or nomadic patterns of G. spekei.[4] Its numbers are under threat, and despite an increase in population, the IUCN in 2007 announced its status had changed from vulnerable to endangered. A captive population is maintained, and the wild population exists in the lower tens of thousands. As of 2008, this gazelle is classified as endangered under the IUCN Red List.

Speke's gazelle is named after John Hanning Speke, an English explorer of Central Africa.

References

  1. ↑ Antelope Specialist Group (2007). "Gazella spekei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2007. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 12 September 2007. Listed as Endangered (EN C1 v2.3)
  2. ↑ Kingdom 1982, 1997
  3. ↑ Groves 1969
  4. ↑ East 1996


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