Beira (antelope)

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Beira
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Antilopinae
Genus: Dorcatragus
Noack, 1894
Species: D. megalotis
Binomial name
Dorcatragus megalotis
(Menges, 1894)

The beira (Dorcatragus megalotis) is a small antelope that inhabits arid regions of Somalia, Djibouti, and eastern Ethiopia.

The beira stands 1.5 to 2.0 ft (0.46 to 0.61 m) high at the shoulder and weighs between 20 and 25 lb (9.1 and 11.3 kg). It has a coarse, red-grey coat with a yellow-red face. It has long, 6 in (15 cm) ears and the males of the species have short, straight horns. The captive-breeding program at the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar has a current population of about 35 beira.

The term 'beira' is derived from behra, its Somali name.

Notes

  1. Heckel, J.-O., Rayaleh, H.A., Wilhelmi, F. & Hammer, S. (2008). Dorcatragus megalotis. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 29 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of vulnerable.

References

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