Speke's Gazelle

Speke's gazelle, Gazella spekei, is the smallest of the gazelle species. It is confined to the Horn of Africa, where it inhabits stony brush, grass steppes and semi-deserts. It has sometimes been regarded as a subspecies of the dorcas gazelle, though this is now widely disregarded. Severe habitat fragmentation makes it impossible to assess its natural migratory or nomadic patterns. Despite an increase in population, the IUCN announced in 2007 that its status had changed from vulnerable to endangered, and it has been classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008. A captive population is maintained and the wild population is in the lower tens of thousands. It is named after the British explorer John Hanning Speke and is notable for its narrow, pointed face and large, inflatable nasal passages.