addax
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What is an addax?
The addax (Addax nasomaculatus) is an African antelope uniquely adapted for desert life. It once lived throughout the Sahara but was nearly wiped out in the 20th century due to poaching. A notable feature is its long, spiral horns. Male addaxes can weigh up to 300 pounds and have horns 30–43 inches long; females are slightly lighter, with equally long but thinner horns. They have developed adaptations such as a reflective coat, the ability to extract water from plants, and tolerance to high body temperatures. The addax is now critically endangered, with fewer than 100 animals in the wild.
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Where does the addax live?
The addax, or Addax nasomaculatus, is the most desert-adapted African antelope. It formerly lived throughout most of the Sahara; however, poaching from motorized vehicles in the last quarter of the 20th century nearly eliminated the species in the wild.
Today, the addax lives in a few remote areas of sand dunes in the desert. Fewer than 100 addaxes remain in the wild in Mauritania, Niger, and Chad. Several hundred addaxes are maintained in American and European zoos and on private ranches. Efforts to restore populations in Tunisia and Morocco are underway.
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What does the addax look like?
The addax is an African antelope, well-adapted for desert life, with long, spiral horns as its most striking feature. Male addaxes weigh 100–135 kg, standing 95–115 cm tall at the shoulder; horns measure 76–109 cm long. Females are nearly as tall as males, only 10–20% lighter, and their horns are just as long but thinner. Addaxes have a stocky build and sturdy, short legs, which give them endurance. Their coat color changes from light in the summer to smoky gray in winter. The hindquarters, underparts, tail, and legs are white, with a contrasting dark brown forehead and gray muzzle.
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How does the addax survive in the desert?
The addax is the African antelope most adapted to desert life. Addaxes have a light-colored, reflective coat and broad hooves for traveling efficiently on sand. They can extract all the water they need from plants and conserve it by excreting dry feces and concentrated urine. Addaxes can also tolerate a daytime body temperature increase of as much as 6 °C (11 °F) before panting to cool down. In hot weather, they rest during the day and feed at night or early morning, when food plants have the most moisture. They graze on desert grasses or browse on water-storing plants, such as melons and tubers.
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Why is the addax an endangered species?
The addax, the most desert-adapted African antelope, is classified as a critically endangered species by the IUCN since 2000. Uncontrolled hunting drastically reduced their numbers, and they now range in only a few remote areas of sand dunes. Fewer than 100 animals survive in the wild in Mauritania, Niger, and Chad. The best chance for the addax's survival involves breeding captive animals and reintroducing them to protected areas within their former range. Restoration efforts are currently underway in Tunisia and Morocco.
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What is being done to protect the addax?
The addax, a desert-adapted antelope, has been classified as a critically endangered species since 2000 due to uncontrolled hunting, which has reduced its range to a few remote areas. The number of addaxes surviving in the wild is estimated to be fewer than 100 animals in Mauritania, Niger, and Chad.
To protect this species, several hundred addaxes are maintained in American and European zoos and on private ranches. The best hope for the species’ survival in the wild is breeding these captive animals and reintroducing them into securely protected areas within their old natural range. Efforts to restore populations in Tunisia and Morocco are underway.
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addax, (Addax nasomaculatus), the most desert-adapted African antelope, formerly found throughout most of the Sahara but nearly exterminated in the wild in the last quarter of the 20th century by poaching from motorized vehicles. The addax’s most striking feature is its long spiral horns.
Male addaxes weigh 100–135 kg (220–300 pounds) and have a shoulder height of 95–115 cm (37–45 inches). Their horns are 76–109 cm (30–43 inches) long. Females are nearly as tall as males and only 10–20 percent lighter; their horns are thinner than the male’s but just as long. A stocky build and sturdy, rather short legs give the addax endurance but not speed. It was easily run down on the gravel plains and plateaus that were once part of its natural habitat. The addax’s coat is lightest-coloured in summer and smoky gray in winter. The hindquarters, tail, underparts, and legs are white, as are a conspicuous face mask and mouth that contrast with a dark brown forehead tuft and gray muzzle. The throat is covered with a short brownish beard.
While other antelopes of North Africa—gazelles and the related scimitar-horned oryx—penetrate the central Sahara after rainfall has made the desert bloom, only the addax and the slender-horned, or Rhim, gazelle (Gazella leptoceros) live there in all seasons. Both are equipped with broad hooves that are adapted for traveling efficiently on sand, enabling them to inhabit the extensive accumulations of sand called ergs that serve as refuges from poachers.
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Other adaptations for desert life are developed to a high degree in the addax, including a highly reflective coat, an ability to extract all the water it needs from plants and to conserve that water by excreting dry feces and concentrated urine, and an ability to tolerate a rise of daytime body temperature by as much as 6 °C (11 °F) before resorting to nasal panting to cool down. In the hottest weather, addaxes rest by day and feed at night and early morning when food plants have absorbed the maximum moisture from the air. The addax employs its short, blunt muzzle to graze coarse desert grasses, and when these are unavailable it browses on acacias, leguminous herbs, and water-storing plants such as melons and tubers.
The addax once ranged from the Atlantic to the Nile, on both sides of the Sahara. Herds of 2–20 animals were typical, but sometimes the addax migrated and aggregated in herds of hundreds where rain had revived the vegetation.
Uncontrolled hunting has reduced the species to ranging in only a few remote areas of sand dunes in the desert, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has classified the addax as a critically endangered species since 2000. The number of survivors in the wild is estimated at fewer than 100 animals in Mauritania, Niger, and Chad. However, several hundred addaxes are maintained in American and European zoos and on private ranches. The best hope for the species’ survival as a wild animal is the breeding of captive animals and their reintroduction into securely protected areas within their old natural range. Efforts to restore populations in Tunisia and Morocco are underway.