Arabian Oryx is the official national animal of Namibia. Oryx leucoryx is the scientific name of Arabian Oryx. The Namibia’s national animal, Arabian Oryx is commonly known as Arabian Oryx or Oryx and also called in many names like the maha, wudhaihi, baqar al wash, boosolah in Arabic and white Oryx in English, and Dishon in Hebrew, which are native found in the Sinai, Palestine, the Transjordan, much of Iraq, and most of the Arabian Peninsula.
It is also re-introduced in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, and Jordan and with a small population in Hawar Island of Bahrain, and large semi-managed populations at several sites in Namibia and the UAE. Namibia’s national animal Arabian Oryx is the well accepted by the people of Namibia that are the reason to designate as the official national animal of the country.
National Animal of Namibia Facts—
- Common Name: Arabian Oryx or Oryx
- Scientific Name: Oryx leucoryx
- Color: The Oryx are coated is nearly luminous white, the undersides and legs are brown, and black stripes occur where the head meets the neck, on the forehead, on the nose. They have a black ornamented tail and black tipped ears.
- Length: 5 to 7 feet in length.
- Height: 18 to 35 inches in height at the shoulder.
- Weight: weight range between 70 kg to 90 kg, depending on the species.
- Diet: Arabian Oryx are plant-eaters (herbivores). They eat different types of grass or sedges, woody plants, shrubs and tree bark such as willow, sage and rabbit brush, and desert holly and desert cactus. They rehearse food and chew it several times to read it for intestinal digestion.
- Cubs: Babies of the Arabian Oryx called lamb. The female Oryx (does) have a gestation period of 240 days, with single calf.
- Behavior: Arabian Oryx is outgoing animals which forming herds that contains five to thirty individuals. The herds can be increased in size, if they may have favorable conditions, while, in poor conditions, it is generally formed with a male, a couple of females and their young.
- Lifespan: Up to 20 years.
The national animal of Namibia, Arabian Oryx are almost luminous white, the undersides and legs are brown, and black stripes occur where the head congregate the neck, on the forehead, on the nose, and going from the horn down across the eye to the mouth. They have a black ornamented tail and black tipped ears. Their light-colored coat helps them reflect the heat of the sun. Both sexes have long, straight or slightly curved, ringed horns which are 50 to 75 cm (20 to 30 in) long.
The Arabian Oryx is a desert antelope can once again be seen itinerant the dry Arabian Peninsula, which was extinct in the wild. This species of antelope is vastly specialized for its insensitive desert environment. The hooves are splayed and shovel-like, which are providing a large surface area to walk on the sandy ground. Namibia’s national animal Arabian Oryx have separate names of both male and female. They are identified as; the females are called “doe, dam.
” The males are known as buck, ram and the babies name lamb and lambskin. Being a polygynous breeder the Arabian Oryx male mates with many females in one mating season. The occasion of births can be different. Nevertheless, if the circumstances are positive, a female is able to produce single calf per year in any month… Gestation for this species lasts about 240 days. The young are weaned by the age of 3.5-4.5 months, and females in captivity first give birth when they are 2.5-3.5 years old.
Reference:
http://animalia.bio/arabian-oryx