Hunting Portal
Namibia

Characteristics:
Shoulder height 120 cm. Body weight approx. 190 kg. Large, striking pattern of signs on the head and body. Horns almost straight and very long, divergent, set in a v-shape when viewed from the front. Long horse-like black frond. The easiest way to address the piece is according to the body. The cow shows a plump round belly that arches smoothly. In the case of the bull, the brush can be seen quite clearly. He also has the much heavier, squat strap and the coarser head.

Colouring:
Head white with striking black markings. In front of the base of the horn, black forehead spot, connected by a narrow black stripe with a large black spot on the bridge of the nose (face mask). Wide black flank stripe borders the white belly. Barrels black at the top, white at the bottom.

Habitat:
Dry bush-grass steppes, even semi-deserts and deserts.

Occurrence:
Central-northern, western, northwestern and southern.

Main food:
Selective grazer (Aristida, Schmidtia). Wild melons and cucumbers, also onions and tubers. Can do without water for a long time.

Rutting season:
December to January

Calving season:
All year, peak August/October.

Horns:
Both sexes horned bearers, bull up to 110 cm, cow slimmer, often longer horns.

Habits:
Sociable in flocks of 30-40 animals or more. Old bulls are often loners. Scoop when water is present, prefer salt licks and brackish soil. In flight, they can crawl under a fence like an arrow. They are aggressive and combative. Sick and welded animals can be dangerous to humans and dogs, as they sometimes attack. Because of the extreme adaptation even to the climatic conditions of the Namib Desert, the gemsbok also survived droughts at the beginning of the 80s. Despite their large numbers, however, the antelopes are not always reliable. They tend to make long migrations, especially at the beginning of the rainy season, because they appreciate fresh greenery immensely.