Fringe-eared Oryx

Noted wildlife scientist Richard Estes wrote in his Behavior Guide to African Mammals that "the oryx is one of the most perfectly desert-adapted large mammals, capable of subsisting in waterless wastelands where few other ungulates can survive."  The subspecies fringe-eared oryx is found only in southern Kenya and Tanzania, and is one of the ungulates we monitor in the Tarangire Ecosystem.  These hardy animals mostly consume grass but also eat wild melons, cucumbers, roots, bulbs, and tubers which provide them with water in dry times.  Fringe-eared oryx are not common in our study area (the subspecies is considered Vulnerable/Threatened by the IUCN), and we are always delighted when we spot a herd of these stunning antelopes with their impressive long horns.  Please enjoy this short movie clip of a herd of fringe-eared oryx in Tarangire National Park.