Gemsbok

Nature 3 Minutes

The Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) is the common name given to the largest and most well-known of the 3 species of Oryx. Due to their horns being so lethal, Gemsbok have also been called the ‘Sabre Antelope’. Its name is actually derived from the German word for a male chamois, although they are not related. Gemsbok are distributed around deserts, scrublands and brushlands in South Western Africa.

There are two types of Gemsbok, a northern and a southern variety. The only difference between them is that the northern variety have black fringes on their ears while the southern variety have longer horns and their ears are more rounded in shape. Southern gemsbok are more abundant than the northern gemsbok. Gemsbok have also been introduced in Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Gemsbok Description

Gemsboks stand around 4 feet 7 inches at shoulder height and weigh between 230 – 250 kilograms (females weigh slightly less than males at around 200 – 210 kilograms). Gemsboks’ coats are a light brown/grey color with lighter patches to the bottom rear of their rump, and sandy grey flanks. A dark stripe extends from their chin and travels down to the bottom of their neck, over their shoulder joints and leg along their lower flanks and on each side of their rear legs. All four legs are black on their top half, with white below the knees and black patches on the shins.

Gemsbok have a horse-like posture and gallop and have muscular necks and shoulders. They have a long tail with black flowing hair. Both male and female gemsbok have long, sharp, pointed horns (female horns are longer and more slender). These horns can extend up to 33 inches in height. The tips of the horns are pointed and sharp and native Africans have used the tips for spear points. Gemsbok also have very distinctive tan, black and white facial markings which make them easily identifiable.

Gemsbok are able to survive in even the harshest conditions thanks to an intricate network of blood vessels called carotid rete, situated in the nose which cool down the blood supplied to the brain. This happens because of the rapid inflow and outflow of air created by the gemsboks panting and therefore protects the gemsbok from deadly temperatures. At the same time, however, the gemsboks body temperature is allowed to rise – eliminating the need to perspire (sweat), and therefore preserving water.

Gemsbok Habitat

Gemsboks are desert dwelling animals that prefer deserts, scrubland and brushland. Southern gemsbok tend to inhabit open, arid areas, such as the Kalahari duneland and bush savanna while northern gemsbok inhabit open grasslands.

Gemsbok Diet

Gemsboks are herbivores and grazers and consume mainly tough dry grasses, supplemented with foliage. Gemsboks are dry-region roughage eaters, with a great capacity to digest fiber. Desert dwelling gemsbok do not rely on water to satisfy their thirst, instead they obtain moisture from tsama melons and by digging up tubers, roots and eating plant bulbs. Grassland gemsbok have plentiful water in their habitat that is readily available.

Gemsbok Behavior

Gemsboks are gregarious and sociable animals, spending time on open plains. Gemsboks can be seen in herds of 10 or more individuals, however, when food is scarce, usually during the dry season, they break up into smaller groups.

After the rain season, gemsboks usually gather into larger herds of up to 300 individuals. Herds are usually led by a territorial male who marks his territory with piles of dung pellets to warn off male intruders. If intruders do come on to the territory, duel conflicts usually occur involving horn clashing and body bashing. As calves in the herd grow, they test each other in what looks like games, but in reality are tests of strength. As the hierarchy becomes established, the need to fight is reduced. Bachelor herds are rare.

Gemsboks do not shy away from large animals of prey. When holding off predators such as lions, their horns are lowered parallel to the ground and they lunge at their rivals with great accuracy. They are swift runners and can outpace a horse or a pack of African Hunting Dogs.

Gemsbok Reproduction

Gemsboks do not have a specific breeding season. A single calf can be born at any time of the year after a gestation period of 9 months. Males reach sexual maturity at about 5 years of age whereas females start breeding as young as 2 years of age. The young remain hidden in the grass and are suckled by their mother for 3 – 6 weeks after which calves will join their mothers and the rest of the herd or a nursery herd. The female Gemsbok comes into heat again shortly after giving birth. The horns of the calves grow extremely fast and when they emerge from concealment after birth their horns are very prominent. The life span of a gemsbok is 18 – 20 years.

Gemsbok Conservation Status

Gemsboks are classed as ‘Conservation Dependent’ by the IUCN. Gemsboks are prized for their meat and their horns by many hunters.

SOURCE: ANIMAL CORNER

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Published by pat frederick

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108 thoughts on “Gemsbok”

  1. Morning, Pat! Interesting looking animals! I guess Wheezer’s latest squeeze must have kicked him out. He came back to eat once yesterday but this morning he showed up early and wanted attention. Purring away while I pet and scratched. His eye is a little better, still badly congested. Sigh….I have to gear up to take a shower and head south…but not yet….I’m becoming more and more of a hermit everyday.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning Filly!
      I know what you mean about being a hermit! I do enjoy a good meal out every 6 months though…LOL hubby would eat a late breakfast out every morning if i said yes–but i eat cereal first thing so that’s not something i like to do. we try to go late enough that i can get lunch and he can still get breakfast.
      Wheezer knows where to get the real loving

      Liked by 2 people

  2. Liked by 1 person

  3. Morning All!
    got up around 5 and tiptoed downstairs not to wake hubby…wanted to see if i could spy any more meteors but it was cloudy–I could see some stars and one planet low on the horizon, but it definitely wasn’t clear like last night. then i fell asleep on my chair…lol

    Liked by 1 person

  5. OMG! This is even worse than I initially thought!!!

    “Seattle teacher who failed student on quiz for saying men can’t get pregnant revealed to have criminal record for assault”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. read a story this morning–i’ll try to find it–that said starbucks wants to close down 23 (iirc) stores because they’re losing business. gov’t is suing them to reopen them–saying they are only closing them because they don’t want them to unionize.
      since when is it the gov’t business WHY you close your own business?
      the gov’t is getting WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY out of hand

      Liked by 2 people

  16. Too funny! Lawrence @ Fox is at Ft. Myers Beach, FL at a restaurant – he asked for a show of hands for: Vivek = 0; Haley = 0; ConRon = a few; Trump – damned near the entire restaurant!!! ROFL

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Police in Europe have arrested 4 Hamas members, 3 in Berlin, 1 in the Netherlands, who were plotting terrorist attacks thruout Europe. Direct link from them to Hamas leadership.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. “Southwest Airlines To Provide Plus-Size Customers With Bed Of Hay, Feeding Trough”
    U.S. · Dec 14, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

    DALLAS, TX — Southwest Airlines, with a positive reputation for supporting plus-size travelers, has taken a big step in providing robust support for its largest customers. Starting this week, fliers of size will be given a complimentary bed of hay and a feeding trough.

    Salt licks will be available to its corpulent flyers for a nominal fee.

    “At Southwest Airlines, we value the Twinkie-divergent and the Cheetos-adjacent,” said a spokesperson for the airline, “Which is why we now offer free upgrades to the corral section with a cozy bed of hay and feeding trough for passengers with slim-defiant bodies.”

    The free upgrade, which sits near the back of the cargo hold, will include a crane service to hoist the metabolically deficient customers into their pens through a massive door in the roof of the plane.

    At publishing time, members of the blubber-attracted community had vowed to boycott Southwest until every plane was retrofitted with an infinite donut dispenser.”

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus
    December 15, 2023 8:35 am

    BREAKING: Ex-federal agent John Moynihan has filed DOJ whistleblower complaint against Trump indictor Jack Smith, claiming Smith was “an active participant in a scheme to extort millions of dollars from wealthy individuals targeted for investigation a/o prosecution [in Kosovo]”

    — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) December 13, 2023

    BREAKING: Ex-federal agent John Moynihan has filed DOJ whistleblower complaint against Trump indictor Jack Smith, claiming Smith was “an active participant in a scheme to extort millions of dollars from wealthy individuals targeted for investigation a/o prosecution [in Kosovo]”
    The whistleblower complaint a former federal agent filed with DOJ includes affidavit by eyewitness who claims Trump indictor Jack Smith oversaw the deposit of bribes into a “black fund” while prosecuting crimes in Kosovo, where Beau Biden rebuilt the postwar justice system
    —-
    The story is gaining traction. 😎

    Liked by 1 person

  20. “My kinda woman…”



    NF: I know the feeling well!!! That first day back, you say to yourself….”…yep, this is why I hate this job!”

    Liked by 1 person

  21. NF: Did I tell you about the time…..HB was in her walker and grabbed the box where we kept our cleaned stash and dumped the ENTIRE box on the carpet! We were down on our hands and knees with our DL’s scraping it up! And it was one of the rare times we could afford the good stuff! ROFL




    Liked by 1 person

  24. “Friday Funnies: Trusted News and Poison Ivy: The Ministry of Truth will see you now. You better be good, ’cause Santa Klaus is coming to town.”
    ROBERT W MALONE MD, MS
    DEC 15, 2023




    Liked by 1 person

  27. you gotta read this bullshit to believe it…LOL
    jill should talk joe into not running for the good of the family. so if he doesn’t run, the author thinks all the investigations go away? they’re in the clear?

    entire article…and yeah it’s The Hill–so it’s twisted left—but THIS is smack in the face ignorance

    Long before the latest charges against Hunter Biden, the Biden name had become for many a literal punchline.

    Each passing week brings more and more Democrats or left-leaning journalists openly bemoaning that President Joe Biden will be their nominee for 2024. Left-leaning editor and Biden fan Harold Meyerson has a piece out titled “Are Democrats Sleepwalking to Disaster?” The main premise is that “Biden is the candidate least able to defeat Donald Trump” and that “other Democrats need to enter the race.”

    That concern is added to those from others who are worried about the president’s advanced age or his alleged cognitive issues, which now regularly produce “Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week” video clips.

    While I may disagree with President Biden on a host of issues, he is still my president. More than that, he is a human being with feelings. As those clips now surface with more frequency, I choose not to watch them, as they do make me hurt for Biden the human being. Others, unfortunately, revel in them.

    ((Did you get that part? he’s still a human being with feelings…LOL))

    Beyond the partisan bloodlust, we come to the legal.

    Law professor Jonathan Turley wrote a column for The Hill titled “With Hunter’s indictment, Democrats face a moment of maddening truth.” That “truth” being that the blanket of corruption has seemingly — and alarmingly — settled over the Biden White House. As Turley writes, “According to recent polling, nearly 70 percent of voters (and 40 percent of Democrats) believe that Biden has acted unlawfully or unethically or both.”

    Those are Nixon-like numbers of perceived corruption.

    The acclaimed law expert further states: “It is now clear that Biden lied when he maintained as a candidate, and later as president, that he had no knowledge of his son’s business dealings with foreign interests … It is also now clear that he lied in denying that his son never made money in China. The indictment confirms massive transfers from Chinese sources.”

    Beyond President Biden and his son Hunter, other members of the Biden family are now regularly being dragged into the webs of corruption or influence peddling. At what point does someone with influence within the Biden family cry “uncle” to save the president and the family further embarrassment?

    As we accelerate toward election day 2024, it’s becoming clear that there is only one person in the country who might be able to dissuade President Biden from seeking a second term. That person being his wife, Jill Biden.

    Critics can say what they want about President Biden and his family, but it certainly seems as if the president and the first lady have a strong and loving marriage. Each truly seems very protective of the other.

    I have long believed that spouses and children of presidents should be off-limits, unless they choose to directly insert themselves into the debate — past first lady Hillary Clinton being a prime example, as some saw her as a partisan who self-elected herself “co-president.”

    In terms of Machiavellian politics, Jill Biden is far removed from Hillary Clinton. While she for sure has her beliefs — and has freely expressed them — for many, on both sides of the political divide, she comes across as a dignified and classy first lady.

    And, more importantly, one who does seem to have her husband’s best interests at heart. This creates possibly the most important political question of the election: To protect her husband and the greater Biden name, will the first lady quietly but insistently intercede to convince President Biden that it is in his best interests — and that of their family — not to run for reelection?

    Literally every single Republican or conservative I know is hoping and praying that President Biden is the Democratic nominee in 2024. There’s a reason for that.

    Likewise, every single Democrat I know is hoping that Biden steps aside and gives his approval to the Democratic National Committee to open the process so Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and others can battle it out for the 2024 nomination.

    As of now, it appears that only one person in the country can make those Democratic hopes become a reality: first lady Jill Biden.

    https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/4357914-will-jill-biden-save-the-democrats/

    Liked by 1 person

  36. OK….if I delay any longer, I’ll get stuck in 5 o’clock traffic coming back – a LOT of people work in Norfolk but live out this way. BBL, altho I’m not sure if I’ll be back before you sign off. If not, sleep well!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m back and I did – managed to avoid a bunch of traffic but I did my shopping at HyVee this time and man, was it ever packed! What was VERY noticeable, however, was the lack of Hispanic voices! I saw ONE Hispanic couple! I paid a little more than I would at WM but little enough that it’s worth supporting a local employee-owned store. Got gas at $2.69/gal but it is still $2.87 up here.

        Liked by 1 person

  37. that teenage gang that beat up a fellow student are claiming self defense because he threw the first punch. yup, that justifies TEN beating up and KILLING one. get this, they are being held in JUVENILE facilities FOR THEIR PROTECTION. they deserve NO SUCH CONSIDERATION. they think they’re badasses who can kill ten against one? let them try their chances in real prison.

    FTA
    The four teens are claiming self-defense because Lewis threw the first punch and a friend of Lewis’s allegedly had a knife, according to defense attorneys. Although the prosecutor conceded Lewis threw the first punch, the prosecutor added the punch didn’t warrant the violent attack that Lewis suffered. The prosecutor said six videos show the fight and will likely be used as evidence.

    Judge Woods said she would issue a written order on bond next week for the defendants.

    Although the four teens are in the adult court system, they are currently being held in the juvenile detention system for their safety. There are also five juveniles in the case that are awaiting adult certification. A 10th “person of interest” remains at large.

    Lewis’s mother was in the courtroom and cried throughout the entire hearing.

    https://www.8newsnow.com/crime/las-vegas-teens-accused-in-beating-death-of-classmate-claim-self-defense/

    Liked by 1 person

  38. “House Preserves Section 702 FISA/FISC Surveillance Instrument”
    POLITICAL MOONSHINE
    DEC 15, 2023

    EXCERPT: “One particular instrument is severely abused by the Intelligence Community, the Judiciary and the federal apparatus more broadly. This instrument’s power and authority is derived from Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that is applied and adjudicated by means of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that operates under the purview and authority of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

    This has been a longtime subject of Moonshine analysis and it has returned to center stage in critical ways.

    The Backstory — Understand this about the Intelligence Community and the Central Intelligence Agency more specifically: By means of its de facto charter The National Security Act of 1947, the CIA is statutorily prevented from operating domestically to target U.S. citizens as subjects…..”

    https://politicalmoonshine.substack.com/p/house-preserves-section-702-fisafisc

    Liked by 1 person

  39. so this is what’s in the “classified” binder that’s missing from the Trump WH??

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning, Pat! It’s not just WP – I read an article yesterday that said there are wholesale changes happening all across the web. Wheezer was sleeping in his chair this morning. I figured he would show up when I turned the light on but, after about 10 minutes, I opened the door to put it out and that’s when he jumped down from his chair and came over for some petting before chowing down.

        Liked by 1 person

  46. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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