Addax
Addax nasomaculatus
Scientific Name
Addax: Addax nasomaculatus
Distribution and Habitat
Geographic Range
Found in the Sahara Desert in North Africa (Senegambia and Algeria and eastward to the Sudan)
Natural Habitat
The addax frequents the dry landscape of the desert. The Addax is the most desert adapted of the antelope.
Physical Characteristics
The Addax is a heavy bodied, short-legged antelope.
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The total body length, from head to tail is between five and five and a half feet, and they weigh between 130 and 275 lbs. The tail is between ten and 14 inches long. Both the male and the female addax develop horns averaging thirty-five inches in length. The horns spiral two or three turns. Addax are grayish brown in winter, but in summer the body coloration becomes sandy to almost white. The legs, hips, belly, ears and facial markings are white and the tuft on the forehead is black.
Quick Facts
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1) The Addax is the most desert adapted of the antelope. It lives most of its life without drinking, deriving sufficient moisture from the plants on it feeds.
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2) The addax is endangered, and it easily falls prey to natives with camels, horses, dogs, and modern weapons, not to mention prolonged drought and continue wars in their native habitat.
Conservation Status
Critically Endangered: The Addax is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
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Diet
Herbivore
In the wild, the addax eats various desert plants. In human care, they receive alfalfa, and omelene (300, high fiber grain)
