Females have horns to defend their feeding area, since their food resources are often in short supply. During the breeding season males establish territories and mate with females within their territory. Non-breeding males form bachelor herds. Outside the breeding season there is a mixing of the groups. Interestingly, tommies avoid tall grass areas.
Gazelles engage in stotting or pronking gait when playing or alarmed.
They bounce stiff-legged with all four legs landing together. This may communicate alarm, give them a better view of predators, and also may confuse or even intimidate predators. Like most true antelope the tommies have facial and leg glands for territorial marking and species recognition. It is the least drought tolerant of all the gazelles. Gazelles breed seasonally so that births coicide with grass growth in spring.