Oryx facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Oryxes |
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| Oryx gazella | |
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Hippotraginae
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Oryx
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Oryx beisa Rüppell, 1835 |
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The Oryx (also called the sabre antelope) is a fast-running hoofed mammal that lives in dry regions of Africa and Asia (including the Arabian peninsula). They live in steppes (sparse grasslands), semi-deserts, and deserts.
Contents
Description
These antelopes congregate in herds of 8 to 60 oryx. Newborn calves can run with the herd within minutes of their birth. Oryxes have a life span of about 20 years. Some people think that the unicorn of legend was based upon the oryx. Many types of oryxes (including the Arabian oryx and the scimitar-horned oryx) are endangered species, mostly because of overhunting and disease.
Diet and Water
The Oryx is an herbivore (a plant-eater). It eats grasses, shrubs and roots, spending most of its time grazing. Oryx are ruminants; they swallow their food without chewing it. After a while, they regurgitate a partly-digested "cud" which they chew and then swallow for the last time. This desert animal can go for weeks without water; it gets much of its water from the plants it eats.
Images for kids
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East African oryx in the Awash National Park, Ethiopia
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Oryx dammah is the only oryx with clearly curved horns, an ochre neck, and no dark markings on the legs.
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Oryx beisa resembles the closely related O. gazella, but the latter has an entirely black tail and more black to the legs and lower flanks.
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See also
In Spanish: Oryx para niños
