Grant's Gazelle (Nanger granti) lives in open savanna across Eastern Africa. It feeds on grass and leaves. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Grant's Gazelle
- A single study found Grant's gazelle's diet to be 66 % browse and 34 % graze, letting them thrive on leaves and stems that other herbivores ignore. They extract most of their water directly from these plants, so they rarely need to visit a waterhole. Because they are not water-dependent, they migrate opposite to species like wildebeest and zebras, slipping into drier zones where competition is low. This dietary flexibility underpins their ability to linger on the plains long after the rains have stopped.
- Grant's gazelles reach sexual maturity at just 18 months. After a gestation of 198 days, roughly six and a half months, females give birth, with peaks in January and February in the Serengeti. The newborn stays hidden while the mother cleans it, then nurses four times daily for six months before weaning.
- Current estimates place the total Grant's gazelle population between 140,000 and 350,000 individuals, yet the overall trend is downward. Habitat loss and poaching are the chief threats, making protected areas like Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Turkana vital refuges. Without these parks, numbers could slip further, highlighting how legal protection directly buffers a species that is otherwise classified as Least Concern.
- Grant's gazelle inhabits Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Tanzania, ranging up to 2,000 m in altitude. Throughout the year they occupy about 290 km², a territory the size of a small city, and move seasonally in the opposite direction of water-dependent ungulates. This unique migratory pattern reduces competition for food and water, allowing them to exploit semi-desert niches that other herbivores avoid.
- At the shoulder Grant's gazelle measures a height of 75-95 cm, while females tip the scales at 35-50 kg and males at 50-80 kg. Their lyre-shaped horns stretch 45-81 cm.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeEastern Africa
HabitatOpen savanna
DietGrass and leaves
About the Grant's Gazelle
Across the sun-baked savannas, the Grant's Gazelle roams with effortless elegance, its slender legs devouring the distance as it bounds effortlessly, a master of evasive maneuvers in a world of predators and prey. With large, dark eyes ever-vigilant, this majestic creature navigates the grasslands with a quiet confidence, its tawny coat blending seamlessly into the landscape as it searches for the tender shoots and leaves that sustain it. As it runs, its long, black horns bob up and down, a striking counterpoint to the fluid motion of its body, a testament to the remarkable agility and endurance of this iconic East African species.
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