Mountain Gazelle (Gazella gazella) lives in desert mountain slopes across Middle East and Arabia. It feeds on grasses and leaves. Its conservation status is Endangered.
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Approximately 6,000 individuals remain in the wild, a stark reminder of their decline. They are now found mainly in Israel, with smaller isolated groups in the West Bank, the Golan Heights, Turkey and scattered locations in Jordan and the Gaza Strip. Israel provides the last major sanctuary and protects the species under law, making the country crucial for its survival. The fragmented range means each population is vulnerable to local threats.
Mountain gazelles can sprint up to 80 km/h. Both sexes possess horns, but males are larger and can weigh up to 25 kg, supporting powerful musculature for high-speed runs.
In April 2024 a mountain gazelle displaying polymelia, a rare condition that produced six limbs, was spotted along the Besor Stream in the Wadi Gaza. Such developmental anomalies are extremely uncommon in wild ungulates and were documented as a single observation in the region. The individual was observed moving cautiously on the rocky banks, a behaviour typical of gazelles that forage at dawn and dusk.
An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the mid-1980s killed about 3,500 gazelles. The deaths occurred in the southern Golan Heights and Ramat Yissachar.
The mountain gazelle is protected under Israeli law. Israel is the last major sanctuary of the species in the Levant.
Sources
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In the arid, sun-scorched mountains, the mountain gazelle moves with a gentle elegance, its large, dark eyes watchful as it navigates the rocky terrain with a sure-footedness that belies its fragile appearance. With a quiet confidence, it bounds across the landscape, its slender legs a blur as it effortlessly scales steep slopes and leaps across ravines, its very existence a testament to the enduring power of life in even the most inhospitable of environments. As it disappears into the misty distances, its haunting, melancholic calls echo through the stillness, a poignant reminder of the beauty and fragility of this endangered creature.
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