The Cheetah’s most appetizing meal

Thomson Gazelle Gazella thomsonii: named after explorer Joseph Thomson. Thomson gazelle weighs up to 18-27 kilogram’s (35-55) pounds and reaches a height of about 22 to 26 inches at the shoulder is a browser and mostly inhabits the open plains and grassland, Thomson gazelle have a gestation period of about 6 months and  have a longestivity of 11 years in wild. One of the most common gazelles in Africa's savannas and grassland habitats, particularly the Serengeti region of Kenya and Tanzania, the graceful "tommie" is distinguished from the similarly colored.


Grant's gazelle by the dark stripe that runs from the shoulder to the flank and the white patch on the rump as well as its smaller size. Male tommies are larger than females and have strongly ridged horns that curve backwards with the tips curving forward. Female tommies have short, smooth, pencil-slim horns or none at all. The face is accented by a black stripe running down from the eye, a dark marking on the nose and a light patch on the forehead.The strongest tommie males set up territories in home ranges using an exaggerated display posture and marking boundaries with scent gland secretions. 

The females and their immature offspring form groups of 5 to 50 that wander through male territories. A male gazelle will follow a female and sniff their urine to find out if she is in estrous, a process known as flehmen.
If so, he will continue to court and mount her. Female Thomson's gazelles will leave the herd to give birth to single fawns after a 5–6 month gestation period. The relatively silent tommies rely on visual awareness of one another to stay in contact. Tommies breed twice a year. Although births occur throughout the year, they peak right after rainy seasons. After giving birth the mother hides the newborn in the grass, returning several times a day to nurse it. 

With their tawny coloring and ability to remain motionless for long periods, the young are surprisingly invisible when hidden in open country. Tommies congregate with Grant's gazelle and with larger ungulates such as wildebeest and zebra and even cattle, which trample and graze on tall grass, making it easier for the tommie to feed on short grass. Although grasses make up about 90% of the tommie's diet in dry season, it also eats seeds and browses on shrubs. When the tiny new green shoots of grass begin to grow in areas that have been burned, tommies often gather in large numbers to feed. 

The Thomson gazelle is exceptionally alert to sounds and movements, and its fine senses of hearing, sight and smell balance its vulnerability on the open plains.Males vigorously defend their territories. If challenged, the defending male and his rival clash horns with the winner claiming the territory. Tommies are often found on ranches and farmlands after many animals have left, subsisting on the short grasses exposed by the cattle. There, they are often shot or snared for the pot. with the most predators being lions, cheetahs, baboons, leopard, hunting dog and hyenas.

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