Procapra przewalskii

The Przewalski's gazelle is similar in size to the Mongolian gazelle, but slightly smaller than the Mongolian gazelle. It is about 110 cm long and 50 cm high at the shoulder. The male gazelle has a pair of black hard horns with ring edges. The tips of the horns are bent inwards. The horns are about 30 cm long. The lower half of the horns is thick, and the near-points of the horns are significantly bent inwards and slightly upwards. The ends form a relatively hooked curve, which is different from the yellow sheep horns that bend inwards and backwards. The lips are black and the submandibular area is white. The adult weight of males is about 27 kg, and that of females is about 23 kg. The tail is short, less than 11 cm. The summer hair is short and shiny, sandy yellow with a slight mulberry color. The hair is shed in late autumn. The winter hair color is lighter, slightly brown or milky white. The inner limbs and abdomen are covered with white hair, and the middle is a striking brown

Przewalski's gazelle is distributed in Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang, Qamdo and the eastern part of Nagqu in Tibet. The habitat altitude is about 3,400 meters. It often lives in meadow areas. It is a representative species of lakeside desertified grassland in the Qinghai Lake area.
The habitat of Przewalski's gazelle is grassland and sand dunes. In Qinghai Province, Przewalski's gazelle is a typical desert and semi-desert ungulate, living in an arid environment with vegetation types such as ephedra, Achnatherum splendens, Carex, Sand Whip, Stipa psora, Wolfsbane and Artemisia, and there are tens of meters high sand dunes, gentle slopes and open plains in between, and the deep sand dunes often serve as their hiding places. Przewalski's gazelle lives in relatively flat semi-desert grassland areas, generally below 3,400 meters above sea level, never reaching higher mountains, nor moving in pure Gobi areas, so it is called "Tan Huangyang"

In 1875, Russian naturalist Przewalski discovered this animal unique to China on the Ordos grassland in Inner Mongolia, China, but he always mistakenly thought it was a Tibetan gazelle. It was not until 13 years later that it was officially named "Przewalski's gazelle". However, in history, he was an invader of Tsarist Russia at the time, so many people believe that the name of Przewalski's gazelle should be changed to "Chinese horned gazelle".

Fossil records show that antelopes were distributed in many locations in northwest China. This shows that in the warmer geological periods before the formation of the Loess Plateau, when grasslands and forests alternated, antelopes were the dominant animal species that flourished. When the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau began to rise and the Loess Plateau gradually formed, environmental changes caused the differentiation of antelope species, forming a unique antelope group on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - Przewalski's gazelle.

When Przewalski's gazelle runs, it is like an arrow from a string, with a unique posture. It puts its front and hind limbs together, pushes its hind limbs back, jumps into the air, steps forward with its front limbs, and pushes back when it lands. This jumping running makes the antelope's body draw an undulating curve in the air, which is extremely beautiful.

Przewalski's gazelle has very developed vision and hearing, but a poor sense of smell. It is alert by nature, moves quickly, and can move and forage in a large range. Although Przewalski's gazelle will flee to a far distance after being frightened, it will return to the original place after the danger is over, and has a relatively fixed activity area.

Through comparative analysis of diet, it was found that Przewalski's gazelles choose many plant species, which complement the feeding strategies of yaks and Tibetan sheep. This shows that Przewalski's gazelles with appropriate density will not affect animal husbandry production.

According to relevant data, in the early 1980s, the number of Przewalski's gazelles around the lake exceeded 1,000; in the late 1980s, it dropped to 500-600; in 1995, there were still five populations of Przewalski's gazelles living in the area around the lake, in Yuanzhe Village, Daotanghe Township, Hudong Breeding Sheep Farm, near Bird Island, Kuaerma Township, Tianjun County, and the junction of Hargai Township, Gangcha County and Ganzihe Township, Haiyan County, with less than 300 individuals. In 2002, except for the first three places, the population of Przewalski's gazelle in the latter two places had disappeared. In the survey in 2003, the population had disappeared. Przewalski's gazelle has become the species with the smallest population among China's unique mammals, with an estimated current number of only about 150. The latest survey shows that the population of Przewalski's gazelle has increased from about 300 in 2007 to about 2,700 in 2020. Therefore, strict law enforcement still needs to be strengthened. Protection measures are recommended. Przewalski's gazelle is the most endangered species among ungulates in China or even the world. If further protection measures are not taken, it may be in danger of extinction at any time.

The causes of endangerment include but are not limited to: habitat reduction and fragmentation, serious conflicts between livestock and Przewalski's gazelles, racial segregation and inbreeding leading to loss of population diversity, continued poaching, fences blocking the natural activities of Przewalski's gazelles, making it easier for wolves and foxes to hunt Przewalski's gazelles, lack of water sources, high incidence of external parasitic diseases and deaths, and lack of trace elements in the body due to high incidence of eating garbage.

Listed in the "Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union" (IUCN) 2016 ver3.1-Endangered (EN).

Listed in the first level of China's "National Key Protected Wildlife List" on February 25, 2021.

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