*Oryx Gizelle*

Dear readers.

So we have a new arrival and it is a Gemsbokkie. She is about 2 days of age now and she has a broken hind leg in a cask. She reminds me so much of Zena when she was a younger baby and interested me in some facts about the species.

• They have a life expectancy of 20 years and the gestation period is 9 months, the same as a human.

• The male and females are difficult to tell apart as both have horns, but there are vague differences in the characteristics of the horns. These horns were used by boesman as spear tips in the olden days.

• They can go without water fpr long periods of time and because of this adaptation they can live in areas most other animals cant because of the lack of water.

• They are group animals but will split the group when there is a couple in need of water.

• The males are territorial and will crouch low depositing the dung on the ground withouth it making a scatter so the smell can be kept for a longer period of time.

Now for the timeline of Zena, our own little \gemsbok:

In this picture Zena was still very young and weak so we had to help her get her movements right for daily walking and excersize.





Here you can see that Gemsbok start getting their horns at a very young age. This is so they can fend of predators and the elder Gemsbok when they need to and the markings on the face will become more clear with the first couple of weeks.



The horns are constantly growing and in this picture you can see the markings on the face is starting to become more defined and making use of black and white.



This is the newest picture I have of her but her horns have grown twice as long and she even stole the heart of our own Bizmark, the springbok. We hope to release her as soon as she is old enough so she can create her own family with the other gemsbok we have on Sondela.