Maine Zoos, Aquariums and Wildlife

An addax is a large, desert-dwelling antelope with long, spirally twisted horns. It is native to North African deserts.

In the summer they have a sandy-white coat, and in winter it turns grayish-brown. They have white markings on their legs and belly, with a black tuft of hair on the forehead.

Addax have some of the most impressive horns of all antelope. In older individuals, they can spiral almost three turns and extend nearly three feet! Both sexes have the horns.

Most antelope are fast and graceful, but addax are a somewhat slow and clumsy. They have a stiff-legged gait, better suited for long endurance runs in sand than fast sprints through grass. What they may lack in grace, addax make up for in toughness and adaptations. They live in one of the most harshest habitats in the world, and they are the most desert-adapted antelope. It has short, thick legs and broad hooves which are adapted to traveling on sand. It is able to survive only on the water obtained from dew or from forage and can scent grasses newly sprouted by recent rain.

They have been extensively hunted, and with much of their habitat destroyed, the species is now much reduced in numbers.<>

Addax are considered one of the world's rarest mammals with only about 250 existing in the wild today. Although rare and highly endangered in the wild, addax are not protected by the Endangered Species Act.