Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) antelope in Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia

Gemsboks rock

There’s a lot about the gemsbok that’s big. Over 4 feet tall at the shoulder and boasting horns nearly as long, they’re bulky among their antelope brethren. Their herds are huge too – up to 200 animals during the rainy season – and they thunder over a gigantic area, roaming the Namib and Kalahari deserts that stretch from here in Namibia across southern Africa. Avid for any arid environment, this oryx variety isn’t limited by geography: After they were introduced in the 1970s for hunting, a strong population still survives in the US state of New Mexico.