User talk:NHish/sandbox

Physical Description
Mountain gazelles are one of the few mammals in which both sexes have horns. Males have significantly larger horns with rings around them. Females will also have horns, but they will be thinner and shorter. Along with the horns, mountain gazelles are sexually dimorphic, meaning that males are larger than females. A wild male can ranged from 17-29.5kg, while females are 16-25kg in weight. </ref

Population and Range
Mountain gazelles are most abundant in Israel, but are found in parts of Jordan, Turkey, and the Palestinian territory. While there are not accurate estimates of the number of individuals in the wild, Israel estimated there to be only 1,210 endangered gazelles in their country.

Habitat
Gazelles have adapted to live in dry, desert-like conditions. They spend most of their time at the top of mountains and hills Living in an annual average temperature of 21-23°C, gazelles prefer to bed on the tops of the hills/mountains to avoid the heat during the day. Around dawn and dusk, these mammals will be found traversing the hills to eat in light forests, fields, or desert plateaus.

Ecology
The mountain gazelle is a diurnal species, they are awake during the day and sleep at night. They are also very territorial and with their herds, but typically stay in herds of three to eight individuals. There are three main groups in the mountain gazelle community: maternity herds, bachelor male herds, or territorial solitary males.

Survival and Reproduction
In the wild, mountain gazelles rarely survive past the age of eight but can live up to 15 years in captivity when taken care of. By 12 months, a female gazelle can begin breeding. For males, 18 months is when they will start breeding. Being polygamous, not spending their lives with one other individual, mountain gazelles' typical breeding season is during the early winter months. Females will give birth to one offspring per year mostly between the months of April and May. A few days prior to giving birth the mother will leave her herd and live in solitary. For up to two months, the mother and her offspring will stay by themselves while the mother watches out for predators. Common predators include foxes, jackals, and wolves that will try to attack the fawn. While young males will stay with their mother for only six months before departing to a herd of young males, young females will sometimes join their mother with a herd.

Food
They can survive for long periods of time without a water source. Instead, they acquire freshwater from succulents and dew droplets from plants.

Threats and Conservation
Mountain gazelles were hunted throughout Israel because they were thought of as a pest until 1993. Their numbers are still low for multiple reasons. In some areas, they face predation from feral dogs and jackals. They also face poachers for their skin, meat, and horns. As with other animals, mountain gazelles are harmed by road accidents, habitat degradation, and habitat fragmentation. Mountain gazelles are now a legally protected species, but often there is not enough enforcement to protect the species. NHish (talk) 01:03, 30 April 2018 (UTC)