Scientific Name
Gazella thomsoni
Description
Thomson’s gazelle, or „tommies”, have a light coat on top with a distinctive dark stripe on its side. Their horns are long and slightly curved.
Food
Thomson’s gazelles eat leaves and short grass. They get the water they need from the grass they eat.
Habitat
Thomson’s gazelle can be found in Tanzania, Kenya, and southern Sudan. They mainly stay in the grassy plains where food is most abundant and the landscape is open enough to allow large herds.
Predators
Tommies are the prey of many creatures, including cheetahs, cape hunting dogs, lions, honey badgers, jackals, hyenas, leopards, and crocodiles. Their young are preyed upon by serval cats, jackals, baboons, eagles, and pythons. Despite the large number of predators, Thomson’s gazelles can be found in numbers of up to 500,000 in Africa. Their only defense is to flee, and they are excellent escape artists. They can leap 10 feet into the air, jump 30 feet in a single bound, and make turns much faster than a cheetah can.
Social Structure
Thomson’s gazelles are very plentiful, living in herds of up to 200 members. During migration, thousands will travel together.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
