Black Gemsbuck / Black Oryx

Oryx Gazella

Identification: Long straight horns in males and females. Light grey to charcoal or black in colour with typical black markings and a black horse-like tail. Short black mane, black in colour continuing onto the tail. Black and white face markings with limited white markings. The Black Oryx also has other prominent areas with black on the body.  Lower parts of legs are white or grey or charcoal. Both sexes have horns. Size: Shoulder height +/- 1,2m. Weight 210 - 240kg. Habits: Grazers but browse occasionally. Love dry open areas (semi-desert). They also eat tsammas and roots. Calves are born throughout the year. They are very well adapted for hot conditions and have a well-developed cooling-off system for the blood going to the brain. Distribution: Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Western Zimbabwe and South Africa (Northern Cape).  The Black Gemsbok / Oryx colour variation is very rare and Mattanu has recently launced a breeding project to breed more of this beautiful colour variation.  The Black Gemsbok has the same markings as normal Gemsbok , but the colour is much darker and can vary from  charcoal to completely black.

Black Gemsbuck / Black Oryx - Pic 1