Sand gazelles eat dry grasses, herbs, and leaves. They can get almost all the moisture they need from their food, so they rarely need to find a water source – very handy in the desert. During the hottest part of the day they rest in the shade of bushes or even scrape little hollows in the sand to stay cool.
Baby gazelles are called fawns. Within hours of being born, a fawn can already stand up and begin to walk alongside its mother. This is essential in the desert, where the family may need to move quickly to find new patches of food. Gazelles live in small herds and keep watch for eagles, foxes, and wildcats.
Qatar has protected areas where sand gazelles roam freely. They were once much rarer due to hunting, but protected reserves and breeding programmes have helped their numbers recover. Today, seeing a herd of gazelles bounding across a sandy plain is one of the rewards of visiting Qatar's desert interior.