The rhim gazelle (Gazella leptoceros), also known as the slender-horned gazelleor sand gazelle, is a slender-horned gazelle, mostly adapted to desert life. Fewer than 2500 are left in the wild. They are found in Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya and Sudan.
The palest of the gazelles, this animal has adapted to desert life in many ways. Their pale coats reflect the sun's rays instead of absorbing them, and their hooves are slightly enlarged to help them walk on the sand, although occasionally they occupy stony regions. The horns on the male are slender and slightly S-shaped; those of the female are even thinner, lighter and less curved.
The rhim or rheem gazelle is found in isolated pockets across the central Sahara Desert. The extreme heat of this environment limits their feeding to the early morning and evening, and G. leptoceros gains most of its water requirements from dew and plant moisture, relying little on open water sources.
The rhim gazelle is a nomadic species, moving across its desert range in search of vegetation, though it does not have a set migratory pattern.
Endangered by the early 1970s, this species of gazelle was in serious decline. They were hunted firstly by mounted then by motorized hunters for sport, meat, or their horns, which were sold as ornaments in North African markets.