The Mhorr gazelle is the biggest and most threatened of the Sahara’s gazelles. Its fawn-coloured back contrasts with its white sides, making an elegant pattern on this tall antelope with long thin legs and curved horns. It is a subspecies of the dama gazelle, and it was once found all over the western Sahel. Uncontrolled hunting and habitat loss drove it to extinction in the wild in Western Sahara in the 1980s. Today it is found only in Morocco, in fenced reserves. Captive breeding and reintroduction programmes are under way in several North African countries.