It is hard to guess what a Scimitar oryx weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Scimitar oryx (Oryx dammah) on average weights 198.4 kg (437.39 lbs).
The Scimitar oryx is from the family Bovidae (genus: Oryx). It is usually born with about 9.71 kg (21.4 lbs). They can live for up to 20.42 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 1.91 meter (6′ 4″). Usually, Scimitar oryxs have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The scimitar oryx or scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), also known as the Sahara oryx, is a species of Oryx that was once widespread across North Africa. The species went extinct in the wild in 2000 but a group was released into an acclimation enclosure within the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve in 2016, then reintroduced back into the wild. 21 additional animals were placed in the acclimation enclosure in 2017.The scimitar oryx has a long taxonomic history since its scientific description in 1816 by Lorenz Oken, who named it Oryx algazel. This antelope stands a little more than 1 metre (3.3 ft) at the shoulder. The males weigh 140–210 kg (310–460 lb) and the females weigh 91–140 kg (201–309 lb). The coat is white with a red-brown chest and black markings on the forehead and down the length of the nose. The calves are born with a yellow coat without distinguishing marks; their coats change to adult coloration at 3–12 months old.The scimitar oryx formed herds of mixed sexes of up to 70 members, usually guided by the bulls. They inhabited semideserts and deserts and were adapted to live in the extreme heat, with their efficient cooling mechanism and very low requirement of water. Scimitar oryx feed on foliage, grasses, succulent plants and plant parts during the night or early morning. Births peak between March and October. After a gestation of eight to nine months, one calf is born. Soon after, the female has a postpartum estrus.The scimitar oryx was once widespread across northern Africa. Its decline began as a result of climate change during the neolithic period, and later it was hunted extensively for its horns. Today, it is bred in captivity in special reserves in Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal and on private exotic animal ranches in the Texas Hill Country. In 2016 a reintroduction program was launched and currently a small herd has been successfully reintroduced in Chad.The scimitar oryx was domesticated in Ancient Egypt and is believed to have been used as food and sacrificed as offerings to gods. Wealthy people in Ancient Rome also bred them. The use of their valuable hides began in the Middle Ages. The unicorn myth may have originated from sightings of a scimitar oryx with a broken horn.The scimitar oryx was the emblem of the ancient Egyptian Oryx nome and today is the animal symbol of the Sahara Conservation Fund.
Animals of the same family as a Scimitar oryx
We found other animals of the Bovidae family:
- Himalayan tahr bringing 68.26 kilos (150.49 lbs) to the scale
- Sheep bringing 37.47 kilos (82.61 lbs) to the scale
- Steenbok bringing 11.64 kilos (25.66 lbs) to the scale
- Günther’s dik-dik bringing 4.61 kilos (10.16 lbs) to the scale
- Red-fronted gazelle bringing 27 kilos (59.52 lbs) to the scale
- Thomson’s gazelle bringing 22.91 kilos (50.51 lbs) to the scale
- Gerenuk bringing 38.65 kilos (85.21 lbs) to the scale
- Grant’s gazelle bringing 55 kilos (121.25 lbs) to the scale
- Harnessed bushbuck bringing 43.28 kilos (95.42 lbs) to the scale
- Bighorn sheep bringing 74.63 kilos (164.53 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Scimitar oryx
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Oryx dammah:
- Sable antelope with a weight of 235.2 kilos (518.53 lbs)
- South American tapir with a weight of 167.75 kilos (369.83 lbs)
- Atlantic white-sided dolphin with a weight of 186.76 kilos (411.73 lbs)
- Asinus with a weight of 172.5 kilos (380.3 lbs)
- Brown bear with a weight of 196.14 kilos (432.41 lbs)
- Fraser’s dolphin with a weight of 164 kilos (361.56 lbs)
- Caribbean monk seal with a weight of 198.38 kilos (437.35 lbs)
- Anoa with a weight of 180.86 kilos (398.73 lbs)
- Visayan warty pig with a weight of 189.4 kilos (417.56 lbs)
- Mountain nyala with a weight of 215 kilos (473.99 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Scimitar oryx
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Scimitar oryx:
- Gemsbok with a size of 1.62 meter (5′ 4″)
- Banteng with a size of 2.08 meter (6′ 10″)
- Alpaca with a size of 1.72 meter (5′ 8″)
- Tamaraw with a size of 2.2 meter (7′ 3″)
- Black wildebeest with a size of 1.82 meter (6′ 0″)
- Grant’s gazelle with a size of 1.53 meter (5′ 1″)
- Javan rusa with a size of 1.63 meter (5′ 5″)
- Markhor with a size of 1.59 meter (5′ 3″)
- Spotted seal with a size of 1.64 meter (5′ 5″)
- Baird’s tapir with a size of 2.2 meter (7′ 3″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Scimitar oryx
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Scimitar oryx:
- Canyon bat
- Southeastern myotis
- Bonnet macaque
- Gerenuk
- Grey rhebok
- Rusty pipistrelle
- Cantor’s roundleaf bat
- Caspian seal
- Soemmerring’s gazelle
- Sika deer
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Scimitar oryx
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Scimitar oryx:
- Short-eared possum with an average maximal age of 17 years
- Guatemalan black howler with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Takin with an average maximal age of 19.5 years
- Barbary sheep with an average maximal age of 21 years
- Emperor tamarin with an average maximal age of 20.17 years
- Cape porcupine with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Six-banded armadillo with an average maximal age of 18.75 years
- Eurasian otter with an average maximal age of 22 years
- Mediterranean monk seal with an average maximal age of 23.67 years
- Reindeer with an average maximal age of 20.17 years