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Gemsbok

Oryx gazella · Introduced/exotic big game · Big game

Gemsbok (Oryx gazella): Grey/tan body, white lower legs and belly. Black face markings extending down from horn bases; stripe along spine. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the gemsbok map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Gemsbok walking across the desert floor below red sand dunes
Photo by Joe McDaniel on Unsplash
Scientific name
Oryx gazella
Family
Bovidae
In North America
Introduced
Range
Native to southern Africa; successfully introduced to the southwestern US and Mexico.
Biology

How to identify it

Grey/tan body, white lower legs and belly. [1]

Black face markings extending down from horn bases; stripe along spine. [1]

Slightly curved horns 60-150 cm; 115-125 cm at shoulder. [1]

Males 180-240 kg, females 180-225 kg. [1]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Stony plains, dunes, rocky hills and arid country. [1]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Nomadic and gregarious, groups averaging 14; males often solitary and territorial [1]

Crepuscular [1]

Grazes, browses in drought, digs up to 1 m for tubers and roots [1]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Native to southern Africa; successfully introduced to the southwestern US and Mexico.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. BIOLOGICALGemsbok

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology