Gazella gazella (Pallas 1766)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Artiodactyla, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 637-722 : 681

Gazella gazella (Pallas 1766)

[Antilope] gazella Pallas 1766 , Misc. Zool.: 7.

Type Locality: No locality cited; based on "La Gazelle" of Buffon, from "Syrié" ( Syria).

Vernacular Names: Mountain Gazelle.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Gazella gazella subsp. gazella Pallas 1766

Subspecies Gazella gazella subsp. acaciae Mendelssohn, Groves and Shalmon 1997

Subspecies Gazella gazella subsp. cora C. H. Smith 1827

Subspecies Gazella gazella subsp. darehshourii Karami and Groves 1993

Subspecies Gazella gazella subsp. farasani Thoulless and Al Basari 1991

Subspecies Gazella gazella subsp. muscatensis Brooke 1874

Distribution: Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, W Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen; introduced to Farur Isl ( Iran, Persian Gulf) and Farasan Isls ( Saudi Arabia, Red Sea). Marginal occurrence in Sinai Peninsula ( Egypt) based on old sightings only; not known to occur there now.

Conservation: U.S. ESA – Endangered; IUCN – Critically Endangered as G. g. acaciae and G. g. muscatensis, Endangered as G. g. gazella , otherwise Vulnerable as G. gazella , G. g. cora and G. g. farasini.

Discussion: Reviewed by Mendelssohn et al. (1995, Mammalian Species, 490), revised by Groves (1996 a). Subspecies darehshourii and farasani apparently based on introduced populations. Captive population in King Khalid Wildlife Research Center, Thumamah, Saudi Arabia may represent an undescribed subspecies ( Groves, 1996 a, 1997 c).