Gemsbok
Oryx gazella (Linnaeus, 1758)
The gemsbok (Oryx gazella) is a large mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Antilopinae and tribe Hippotragini, within the order Artiodactyla. It is a terrestrial herbivore with a cathemeral activity pattern, and adults have a representative body mass of 169 kg.
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Quick facts about the gemsbok
Its lifespan is given as 20.75 years, with values up to 23.9 years, and the IUCN Red List classes it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 37.5 kg – 169 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 20.8 years – 23.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- desertsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 168 days – 304 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 18.1 months – 20.1 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.89src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the gemsbok
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the gemsbok live?
Not recorded
What is the gemsbok?
The gemsbok (Oryx gazella) is a large antelope in the genus Oryx. It is endemic to the dry and barren regions of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and (parts of) Zimbabwe, mainly inhabiting the Kalahari and Namib Deserts, areas in which it is supremely adapted for survival. Previously, some sources classified the related East African oryx, or beisa oryx (Oryx beisa), as a subspecies.
From the Wikipedia article “Gemsbok” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gemsbok&oldid=1383051607), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the gemsbok endangered?
The gemsbok is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the gemsbok classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusOryx
- SpeciesOryx gazella (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Capra gazella, Oryx gazella gazella
Other names and names in other languages (62)
- GemsbuckEnglish
- OryxEnglish
- South African oryxEnglish
- Southern gemsbokEnglish
- Southern oryxEnglish
- جمزبوكةArabic
- مها جنوب أفريقيةArabic
- óriz d'el cabuAsturian
- ОриксAvaric
- Adi köpgəröküzAzerbaijani
- ОрыксBelarusian
- Източноафрикански ориксBulgarian
- JemsbokBreton
- Òrix del CapCatalan
- Přímorožec jihoafrickýCzech
- SpießbockGerman
- Oryx-AntilopeGerman
- OryxantilopeGerman
- Sudafrikanischer SpiessbockGerman
- Südafrikanischer SpießbockGerman
- Νότιος ΌρυξGreek
- Oriks-antilopoEsperanto
- Órix del CaboSpanish
- Órice de El CaboSpanish
- Orix arruntBasque
- تیزشاخ کالاهاریPersian
- BeisaFinnish
- keihäsantilooppiFinnish
- Oryx gazelleFrench
- ראם הצביHebrew
- Oriks antilopaCroatian
- nyársas antilopHungarian
- Orice gazzellaItalian
- オリックスJapanese
- ゲムズボックJapanese
- ორიქსიGeorgian
- 겜스복Korean
- Tiesiaragis oriksasLithuanian
- ဂင်းစဗုတ်တောဆိတ်Burmese
- GemsbukkNorwegian Bokmål
- SpydbukkNorwegian Bokmål
- Gewone SpiesbokDutch
- Zuid-Afrikaanse SpiesbokDutch
- oryks południowyPolish
- گمزبوکWestern Panjabi
- ÓrixPortuguese
- Órix-australPortuguese
- СернобыкRussian
- PasanaSlovenian
- Орикс антилопаSerbian
- InyamataneSwati
- GemsbockSwedish
- เจมส์บอกThai
- KukamaTswana
- KookaamTswana
- MhalaTsonga
- ГемсбокUkrainian
- Орикс звичайнийUkrainian
- NoniVenda
- Linh dương GemsbokVietnamese
- InkukhamaXhosa
- 南非劍羚Chinese
Relatives of the gemsbok
Other species in the same genus Oryx.
Arabian oryx
Oryx leucoryx
Scimitar oryx
Oryx dammah
Beisa
Oryx beisa
Fringe-eared oryx
Oryx callotis
Galla oryx
Oryx gallarum
CompareGemsbok vs Arabian oryxGemsbok vs Scimitar oryxGemsbok vs BeisaGemsbok vs Oryx beatrix
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How heavy is a gemsbok?
Adult gemsbok have a representative body mass of 169 kg, which places them in the large size class (25 to 250 kg).
What does a gemsbok eat?
The gemsbok is a herbivore.
Is the gemsbok endangered?
No. The gemsbok is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a gemsbok live?
Its lifespan is given as 20.75 years, with values up to 23.9 years reported by our sources.
How many young does a gemsbok have?
A gemsbok has 1 young per litter, with 1.89 litters per year and a gestation period of 168 days.
When does a gemsbok reach sexual maturity?
A gemsbok reaches sexual maturity at 1.6 years, with reported values from 1.5 to 1.7 years.
What kind of animal is a gemsbok?
The gemsbok is a mammal in the family Bovidae and the order Artiodactyla.
Who named the gemsbok?
The scientific name Oryx gazella is credited to (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Gemsbok (Oryx gazella). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/gemsbok
“Gemsbok (Oryx gazella).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/gemsbok.
@misc{gemsbok_2026,
title = {Gemsbok (Oryx gazella)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/gemsbok},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}