Addax Desert Migration Lab (2D)

Landscape Parameters

Season Dry

Wetter seasons raise vegetation moisture content and regrowth rate, so the herd needs waterholes less and can migrate farther between them.

Herd size 10

Travel speed 1.00

Live Herd Stats

Avg hydration

Avg energy

Forage patches active

0/0

Herd spread

Farthest from last water0u

blue mark = typical grazer's water-seeking range · amber mark = addax's own range

How it works — desert water independence

Most grazers must stay within reach of standing water and go looking for it as soon as hydration drops — the blue reference mark. The addax is a genuine desert specialist: it derives a large share of its water from the moisture stored in the forage it eats and only actively seeks a waterhole once hydration falls much further, the amber mark. That single difference is what lets a herd graze — and gradually migrate — much farther from any fixed water source than a typical desert grazer could survive at.

Season — wet-season forage carries more moisture, so grazing alone keeps hydration up and waterholes matter less; dry-season forage is drier, so the herd leans on the sparse waterholes and drifts toward them.
Forage patches — small, scattered vegetation clumps that deplete as they're grazed and slowly regrow; their upkeep rate scales with the season.
Herd size / travel speed — more mouths deplete a patch faster and push the herd to migrate sooner; a faster herd pays less energy per trip between patches.
Distance bar — tracks the single farthest-ranging animal in the herd since it last drank, against both reference thresholds.

Dry season

Vegetation patch Waterhole Addax (traveling) Addax (grazing) Addax (seeking water)