Oryx beisa
Silhouette: Jan A. Venter, Herbert H. T. Prins, David A. Balfour & Rob Slotow (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The East African oryx (Oryx beisa), also known as the beisa, is a species of medium-sized antelope from East Africa. It has two subspecies: the common beisa oryx (Oryx beisa beisa) found in steppe and semidesert throughout the Horn of Africa Somalia and north of the Tana River, and the fringe-eared oryx (Oryx beisa callotis) south of the Tana River in southern Kenya Somalia and parts of Tanzania. The species is listed as Endangered by the IUCN.
In the past, some taxonomists considered it a subspecies of the gemsbok (Oryx gazella), but they are genetically distinct; the diploid chromosome count is 56 for the beisa and 58 for the gemsbok. The East African oryx stands between 0.79 and 1.25 m (2.6 and 4.1 ft) tall at the shoulder and typically weighs between 220 and 460 lb (100 and 209 kg). It has a grey coat with a white underside, separated from the grey by a stripe of black, with black stripes where the head attaches to the neck, along the nose, and from the eye to the mouth and on the forehead. The mane is small and chestnut-coloured; the ringed horns are thin and straight. They are found on both sexes and typically measure 75–80 cm (30–31 in). Comparably, the gemsbok... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Mkomazi National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Six Flags Great Adventure | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Cabarceno Natural Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | The Wilds | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Taipei Zoo | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 8 | Haller Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Wildlife World Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Zoo La Barben | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 11 | Burgers' Ocean | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 12 | DierenPark Amersfoort | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 13 | Zoológico la pastroa | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 14 | Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Mořský svět | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report an East African Oryx sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 198 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 25 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and December
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report an East African Oryx in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in April, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most East African Oryx sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate East African Oryx sightings, Samburu National Reserve ranks 4th at about 50%. The best odds are in Awash National Park (Ethiopia, about 70%), Tsavo West National Park (Kenya, about 70%) and Tsavo East National Park (Kenya, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Bovidae
The closest relatives of the East African Oryx that you can see in Samburu National Reserve (family Bovidae, Bovids) are Kirk's Dik-dik (about 80%), Grant's Gazelle (about 80%) and Impala (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the East African Oryx is recorded against all the mammals logged in Samburu National Reserve (198 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
