Gazelles are thin, graceful antelopes that live in Africa and Asia. They resemble deer and are in the same family as goats, cattle and sheep. Gazelles can be identified by their curved, ringed horns, tan or reddish-brown coats and white rumps. Often, there are spots or stripes on their coats.

Most gazelles are placed in the genus Gazella, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). Gazelles have adapted to inhabit waterless steppe, subdesert, and even desert. They can extract water from the plants they browse without having to drink. They have narrow jaws and incisor rows for highly selective feeding on the most nutritious growth.

Gazelles are not fast enough to evade the path of a cheetah, but they are able to outmaneuver them as they run away. Males and females have horns, unlike many mammals in the antelope family. When a gazelle is nervous, he or she will honk. A gazelle can jump 10 feet in the air and can run up to speeds of 60 mph in short bursts.

Gazelles are 2–3 ft (60–90 cm) high at the shoulder. They range in herds that usually contain 5 to 10 individuals but may include several hundred. They are generally brown with white underparts and rump, and many have a horizontal dark band along each side. A light stripe runs down each side of the face.

Gazelles are relatively small antelopes, most standing from 60 to 110 cm (2 to 3.5 ft) high at the shoulder. Most gazelles are tan-colored, with white underparts and rump patch, a dark side stripe, and contrasting facial markings. The males have long, often curved, horns.