Oryx dammah
Months without drinking…
These elegant oryx have different adaptations allowing them to live in the desert areas of northern Africa. Their light coat reflects sunlight, their enlarged hooves allow them to walk in the sand, and their body temperature can rise to 46°, limiting water loss due to sweating. They can live without drinking for several months!
But they were victims of hunting and competition with livestock for food and water, so much so that this species has disappeared from the wild since the 1990s. Thanks to the individuals present in zoological parks, reintroduction programs can be set up… This is the case of one of our females, who left in 2014 to join a reintroduction program in Chad, where there are now more than 280 animals in the wild!
In La Barben, the group of gazelle oryx evolves in an African plain of more than 7000 m2, in the company of watusis and Somali donkeys!
