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A Gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella. Gazelle are known as swift animals, maintaining quite fast speeds. Both sexes have ridged horns, but the females have much shorter horns. The top parts of their bodies are a soft, light brown and the underside is usually always white with both males and females.
The Grant’s Gazelle stands 75–95 cm (30–37 in) at the shoulder. The females weigh from 35 to 50 kg (77 to 110 lb) and males from 50 to 80 kg (110 to 180 lb). Its coat is a beige orange on the back with a white belly. The Grant’s Gazelle looks similar to a Thomson’s Gazelle, except it is much larger and has lyre-shaped horns which are stout at the base, clearly ringed, and measuring 45–81 cm (18–32 in) long. A useful field mark is the white on the rump that extends over the top of the tail in Grant’s Gazelle but not Thomson’s Gazelle.
They live in small to midsized herds, separated into females with juveniles and bachelor groups; during the mating season, when males become territorial and protective over a harem of females to breed with, bachelor herds briefly married disperse before tensions die-down again. Confrontations between hormonal males rarely end in violence or death, with the ‘loser’ simply fleeing.
Grant’s Gazelle prefer living on short, grassy plains where they can graze, but can also be found browsing and foraging in more sparse, arid scrublands; they avoid areas with excessively high, untrimmed grass with compromised visibility of predators. They also occur in semiarid areas, being relatively well-adapted to drier areas, relying on more arboreal browse or shrubby, leafy material during the dry seasons to supplement their intake of water. They are sometimes seasonally migratory, but do not travel along the same routes as most of the other savannah ungulates, such as the Cape Buffalo, Plains Zebra, Thomson’s Gazelle and the White Bearded Gnu, which are all far more susceptible to dehydration. Grant’s Gazelle can subsist on vegetation in waterless, semiarid areas, where they face considerably less resource competition.
Grant’s Gazelle are generally mixed feeders that both browse and graze. Their diet consists of 66% browse and 34% graze. Rainfall seems to be a determinant of their diets. One way the Grant’s Gazelle withstands dehydration and heat stress is by being very efficient in digesting dry matter. Grant’s Gazelle consume a smaller amount of food than domesticated animals, but they are better-suited for extreme environments because they derive protein from forage more quickly. The Grant’s Gazelle diet may be responsible for the slow growth rates of browsed plants. They get most of their moisture from the plants they eat, so they do not often have to drink water. Thus they can stay on the plains long after the rains end. In dry seasons, Grant’s Gazelle move deep into dense brush and wait for the next rains. They will eat red oat grass and small, tough plants, which are avoided by the other ungulates. This allows the Grant’s Gazelle to survive in the brush during the dry season. Grant’s Gazelle eat mainly dicotyledons during the dry season and grass in the wet season.
The most common predators of the Grant’s Gazelle are the Cheetah, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Leopard and Lion.
Grant’s Gazelle sexually mature at 18 months. Territory-holding males mate more than those in bachelor groups. The courting ritual begins with a male following a female, waiting for her to urinate. When she does, the male does the Flehmen response to determine if she is in oestrus. If she is, he will continue to follow her. The gestation period for the Grant’s Gazelle lasts for 198 days. Births in the Serengeti peak in January and February. A female will leave her herd and find a well-hidden place to give birth. Afterwards, the female eats the afterbirth and other fluids to keep the fawn clean and scentless. Females that have recently given birth will stay together for protection. The females nurse their fawns four times a day. Fawns are immobile for the first few days, and the mother stays close by. When the fawn can walk, it leaves with its mother to join a herd. Around this time, fawns will associate with one another in peer groups. A Grant’s Gazelle is weaned at six months, but will continue to associate with its mother until adolescence.
Thomson’s Gazelle (Eudorcas Thomsonii) is one of the best known species of Gazelle. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a “Tommie”. Thomson’s Gazelle can be found in numbers exceeding 200,000 in Africa and are recognised as the most common type of Gazelle in East Africa. A small fast antelope, the Thomson’s Gazelle is claimed to have top speeds up to 80–90 km/h (50–55 mph). It is the fourth-fastest land animal, after the Cheetah (its main predator), Pronghorn and Springbuck.
Thomson’s Gazelle is a relatively small Gazelle; it stands 60–70 cm (24–28 in) at the shoulder. Males weigh 20–35 kg (44–77 lb), while the slightly lighter females weigh 15–25 kg (33–55 lb). Facial characteristics of the Gazelle include white rings around the eyes, black stripes running from a corner of the eye to the nose, rufous stripes running from the horns to the nose, a dark patch on the nose, and a light forehead. The coat is sandy brown to rufous; a black band runs across the flanks, from the upper foreleg to just above the upper hind leg. A buff band occurs above the black stripe. Short, black streaks mark the white rump. The black tail measures 15–27 cm (5.9–10.6 in). Males have well-developed preorbital glands near the eyes, which are used for scent marking territories. Both sexes possess horns that curve slightly backward with the tips facing forward. The horns, highly ringed, measure 25–43 cm (9.8–16.9 in) in males and 7–15 cm (2.8–5.9 in) in females. However, females have more fragile horns; some are even hornless. Grant’s Gazelle is very similar to Thomson’s Gazelle, but can be differentiated by its larger size and the white patch on the rump extending top over the tail.
It has narrow habitat preferences, preferring short grassland with dry, sturdy foundation. It does, however, migrate into tall grassland and dense woodland. Gazelle are mixed feeders. In the wet seasons, they eat mainly fresh grasses but during the dry seasons, they eat more browse, particularly foliage from woody plants bushes and herbaceous forbs. Thomson’s Gazelle are dependent on short grass. Their numbers can be highly concentrated at the beginning of the rains when the grass grows quickly. In the wild, Thomson’s Gazelle can live 10–15 years.
Their major predators are Cheetah, Leopard, Lion, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Nile Crocodile and African Rock Python and their fawn are sometimes the prey of Eagle, Jackal and Baboon.
When patrolling his territory, a male may use his horns to gore the grass, soil, or a bush. Males also mark grass stems with their preorbital glands, which emit a dark secretion. Territories of different males may share a boundary. When territorial males meet at the border of their territories, they engage in mock fights in which they rush towards each other as if they are about to clash, but without touching. After this, they graze in a frontal position, then in parallel and then in reverse, and move away from each other while constantly grazing. These rituals have no victor, but merely maintain the boundaries of the territories.
Females leave the herd to give birth to single fawns after a five- to six-month gestation period. Birthing predominantly occurs after the rainy season, with newborn fawns weighing 2 to 3 kg (4.4 to 6.6 lb). They give birth twice yearly with one or two fawn. When giving birth, a female Gazelle crouches as the newborn fawn drops to the ground, tearing the umbilical cord. The mother then licks the fawn clean of amniotic fluid and tissues. In addition, licking possibly also serves to stimulate the fawn’s blood circulation, or to “label” it so its mother can recognise it by scent. In the first six hours of the fawn’s life, it moves and rests with its mother, but eventually spends more time away from its mother or hides in the grass. The mother stays in the vicinity of the fawn and returns to nurse it daily. Mother and fawn may spend an hour together before the fawn goes and lies back down to wait for the next nursing. Mother Gazelle may associate with other Gazelle mothers, but the fawns do not gather into “kindergartens”
Grant’s Gazelle is distributed from northern Tanzania to South Sudan and Ethiopia and from Kenya to Lake Victoria. Grant’s Gazelle are mostly found in the deserts, grasslands and savannahs of Africa. They enjoy open velds and don’t like tall grass in case predators may be hiding.
Thomson’s Gazelle lives in East Africa’s savannas and grassland habitats, particularly the Serengeti region of Kenya and Tanzania.
Planning carefully is the key to a good Gazelle taxidermy job. When tanning and oiling the hides, the best chemicals and methods in the world are used to make sure they will last for generations. At Lifeform Taxidermy, we carefully choose our forms to make sure they fit well, and we’ll even custom make the forms according to any instruction, you may have in mind, at no extra cost. Full-mount trophies come with standard natural habitat bases that are made just for them. We use only the best materials and our 40 years of experience in the field to give your trophies new meaning. The finished trophies look life-like. When repair is needed, every effort is made to repair cuts and scrapes while keeping bullet damage to a minimum. Skin preparation and storage tips for a flawless Gazelle trophy.
Take care of your trophy before you bring it to the taxidermist – field preparation is the most important start. As soon as you take the hit on your trophy, it starts to rot, and the heat of Africa speeds up the decaying process. The hunter must not drag the body of the animal from the site where it was shot to the waiting hunting truck. The trophy should be protected from the hot metal bed of the hunting truck with a thick layer of cut grass or leaves.
So that nothing goes wrong, the skinning needs to start right away. Remove all of the meat, fat, dirt, and blood from the skin. Clean the skin well. After that, allow the skin to drip dry for a short time, it should then be salted. It is recommended to soak the skin in a salt solution for at least five hours and ideally overnight. Use about 20 kg of salt per 100 litres of water. After taking the skin out of the solution, salt it while it is still flat and flesh side up on a clean surface. To get the full effect of the salt, it needs to be absorbed into the skin all over, into all the crevice’s, especially around the facial features. Put the skin in the shade with a layer of salt on it. After 24 hours, dry the cape. Fold with the hair and ears in when it’s dry. To stop insect damage, pesticides must be sprayed on the skin and in the storage area.
Grant’s Gazelle have a good sense of sight and their environment makes it hard to sneak up on them without being spotted. Most often, these Gazelle are hunted using the spot-and-stalk technique.
After the animal has been spotted from a distance, it will be evaluated through the glass to determine if it is worthy of being a prize, and a stalking strategy will be devised accordingly. This behaviour, coupled with a predilection for broad plains, makes for a challenging approach, and most hunters resort to using a long, well-placed shot.
How you choose an Gazelle taxidermy mount depends on things like your budget, wall space, and personal taste. When it comes to the creation of a full mount, we find that considerable discussion with the customer yields the best results. This is due to the fact that each form is given a distinct shape and arrangement.
Life-Form Taxidermy will make an exact copy of the skin as soon as they get all of your mounting instructions. All of the skins are tanned and oiled with high-quality products and methods to make sure they are preserved for years. Each skin is put on a manikin to make sure that it fits well. After the eyes and ears are expertly placed, the skin is sewn by a professional. Before making any last changes, the taxidermist waits until the animal is dry. They put the trophies in crates, and the shipping company hired by the client brings them to the client.
Every year, dust the mounts with a soft brush or compressed air to fluff up the hair. Trophies should be protected from common pests by spraying a light mist of normal aerosol surface pesticide around them. Think about preserving your trophy with Mount Medix Africa. This is a product that Life-Form Taxidermy offers.
Keep trophies in a cool, dry place. Daylight makes the mounts fade over time, so artificial light is better. If there’s too much humidity, open the windows or turn on a fan. Due to salt and tan residue, hair can make moisture beads when the humidity is high. Using a tissue that soaks up water will also soak up the salts.
The pricing of any trophy is subject to the costing stipulated per taxidermy order, quantity of trophies and preferred mounting options, along with additional requirements.
Should you wish to receive a quotation prior to the hunt, the taxidermist can generate such for you. Please contact [email protected]
Taxidermy is an art form that involves a complicated step-by-step process to make sure that each trophy looks just right and is of a high enough quality that it will last your whole life.
The time it takes a taxidermist to mount an animal might range from days to weeks, and possibly several months, depending on the quantity of trophies per taxidermy order, the display preferences, and volumes of client trophies to be produced, simultaneously, per production schedule.
This depends largely on the “what, how, when” factors. A taxidermy order also only becomes available for production scheduling upon receipt of the required deposit and trophy mounting instructions.
