Gemsbok

Long, nearly straight, ringed horns of up to about 5 feet, carried by bulls and cows alike, make the gemsbok readable even in silhouette. Closer up, the white face is crossed by bold black markings that run down from the horn bases toward the muzzle, a black stripe runs along the spine to a short black mane, and black and white patterns mark the legs. This is the oryx of the Kalahari plains and the Namib dunes, a dry-country specialist that can draw the moisture it needs from roots, tubers and wild tsamma melons, so it turns up far from any waterhole. In East Africa, the similar beisa and fringe-eared oryx take its place.