Cuvier’s gazelle
Cuvier’s Gazelle is a tall, stocky gazelle (20-35 kg), reddish-brown in colour, with a white belly and contrasting dark flank stripe and black tail. Horns in the male are rather straight and stout and heavily annulated.
Cuvier’s gazelles live in small herds but larger groups of up to 25 have been observed in areas of exceptional grazing.
The species live in lightly-wooded, hilly and rocky country, and is able to climb significant slopes. Typically present in areas of Aleppo pine but numbers decrease in dense forest.
The remaining populations are extremely fragmented due to habitat loss and hunting pressure.
ID card
Scientific name:
Gazella cuvieri
IUCN Red list status :
Vulnerable
How many left in the wild:
Less than 2500 individuals in the wild and fragmented.
Geographic distribution:
Endemic to the Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains of the Maghreb countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Threats and challenges
Cuvier’s gazelles are threatened by uncontrolled hunting and have become especially vulnerable to the widespread use of all-terrain vehicles, quads and motorbikes. Conservation efforts are significantly hampered by security issues in many areas. Habitat loss to livestock competition and deforestation are also serious threats to the species.
Mountain habitats provide some protection and populations in some areas appear stable or increasing slightly.
Country-wide hunting ban in Algeria has had a positive effect on Cuvier’s numbers.
The species is present in several national parks and nature reserves in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and reintroduction was carried out at the northernmost point of its distribution in Tunisia, the Boukornine National Park just south of Tunis.
