How big does a Scimitar oryx get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Scimitar oryx (Oryx dammah) reaches an average size of 1.91 meter (6′ 4″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 20.42 years, they grow from 9.71 kg (21.4 lbs) to 198.4 kg (437.39 lbs). A Scimitar oryx has 1 babies at once. The Scimitar oryx (genus: Oryx) is a member of the family Bovidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
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:
- Lichtenstein’s hartebeest with 1 babies per litter
- Chinese goral with an average maximal age of 17.25 years
- Goat with 1 babies per litter
- Peters’s duiker with a size of 1.02 meter (3′ 4″)
- Dibatag with a size of 1.51 meter (5′ 0″)
- Goitered gazelle with a size of 95.8 cm (3′ 2″)
- Cattle with an average maximal age of 20 years
- African buffalo with a size of 2.53 meter (8′ 4″)
- White-bellied duiker with a size of 94 cm (3′ 2″)
- Muskox with 1 babies per litter
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:
- Tiger with a size of 1.83 meter (6′ 0″)
- Baiji with a size of 1.7 meter (5′ 8″)
- Greater kudu with a size of 2.2 meter (7′ 3″)
- Hirola with a size of 1.6 meter (5′ 3″)
- Argali with a size of 1.59 meter (5′ 3″)
- Spectacled bear with a size of 1.77 meter (5′ 10″)
- Mountain nyala with a size of 2.25 meter (7′ 5″)
- Harp seal with a size of 1.72 meter (5′ 8″)
- California sea lion with a size of 2.02 meter (6′ 8″)
- Harbour porpoise with a size of 1.53 meter (5′ 1″)
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:
- Philippine flying lemur
- Van Gelder’s bat
- Mexican gray squirrel
- Guatemalan deer mouse
- Pygmy tarsier
- Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth
- Harp seal
- Spotted bat
- Parma wallaby
- Bechstein’s bat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Scimitar oryx
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Scimitar oryx:
- Dorcas gazelle with an average maximal age of 17.42 years
- Silvery marmoset with an average maximal age of 16.75 years
- Cheetah with an average maximal age of 19 years
- Waterbuck with an average maximal age of 19.92 years
- Mohol bushbaby with an average maximal age of 16.5 years
- Guatemalan black howler with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Black-fronted duiker with an average maximal age of 19.67 years
- Snow leopard with an average maximal age of 18 years
- Bennett’s tree-kangaroo with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Plains zebra with an average maximal age of 20 years
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:
- Brown bear with a weight of 196.14 kilos (432.41 lbs)
- South American sea lion with a weight of 193.67 kilos (426.97 lbs)
- Giant forest hog with a weight of 196.57 kilos (433.36 lbs)
- Irrawaddy dolphin with a weight of 190 kilos (418.88 lbs)
- Hawaiian monk seal with a weight of 223 kilos (491.63 lbs)
- Lichtenstein’s hartebeest with a weight of 168 kilos (370.38 lbs)
- Waterbuck with a weight of 203.2 kilos (447.98 lbs)
- Pygmy killer whale with a weight of 170 kilos (374.79 lbs)
- Greater kudu with a weight of 205.53 kilos (453.12 lbs)
- Sable antelope with a weight of 235.2 kilos (518.53 lbs)