Taronga Western Plains Zoo has experienced a baby boom in the addax herd with three calves being born over the past couple of months.
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The newest arrivals include two females and one male, whose horns are already starting to come through.
The young calves were all hidden in the long grass or behind rocks in the exhibit for the first couple of weeks of their lives.
This is a natural behaviour that addax adopt in the wild to protect their young from predators.
All three calves are doing well and are visible on exhibit.
They can often be spotted sitting together in a crèche-like group while the adults wander to graze and come back regularly to feed their young and check on them.
Addax are critically endangered, sadly a recent survey found only three individual addax left in the wild.
Every birth in zoo-based conservation programs is critical to the long-term survival of this species, which now really only exists in zoos and wildlife parks throughout the world.
The success of our breeding program here in Dubbo continues to build the genetic diversity in zoo-based populations.
The addax is a spiral-horned antelope.
This pale antelope has long, twisted horns - typically 55 to 80 cm (22 to 31 in) in females and 70 to 85 cm (28 to 33 in) in males. Males stand from 105 to 115 cm (41 to 45 in) at the shoulder, with females at 95 to 110 cm (37 to 43 in).
The colour of the coat depends on the season - in the winter, it is greyish-brown with white hindquarters and legs, and long, brown hair on the head, neck, and shoulders; in the summer, the coat turns almost completely white or sandy blonde.
The addax mainly eats grasses and leaves of any available shrubs, leguminous herbs and bushes. These animals are well-adapted to exist in their desert habitat, as they can live without water for long periods of time. Addax form herds of five to 20 members, consisting of both males and females. They are led by the oldest female.
Due to its slow movements, the antelope is an easy target for its predators: lions, humans, African hunting dogs, cheetahs and leopards. Breeding season is at its peak during winter and early spring.
The natural habitat of the addax are arid regions, semideserts and sandy and stony deserts.
Although extremely rare in its native habitat due to unregulated hunting, it is quite common in captivity. The addax was once abundant in North Africa, native to Chad, Mauritania and Niger. It is extinct in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Western Sahara. It has been reintroduced in Morocco and Tunisia.