A Gazelle That Almost Never Drinks
The chinkara, Gazella bennettii, can go its entire life without once drinking from a water source. That is not an exaggeration for effect. Field studies conducted in the Thar Desert have documented chinkaras surviving for months, and in some cases indefinitely, without access to free-standing water. For an animal weighing between 20 and 25 kilograms and living where ground temperatures can exceed 50°C in May and June, this is a physiological achievement that most mammals cannot approach.
