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Gemsbok do not seek shade during the hottest pasts of the day. They sweat to maintain constant temperature and restrict their activities to morning and evenings, when air temperatures are coolest. If they become water stressed and cannot spare water for evaporative cooling by sweating from the skin, the body temperature is allowed to increase (up to 43oC), but the brain temperature remains cool (they accomplish this through the carotid rete system, what is essentially a “radiator” that cools the blood flowing to the brain). Because of their large body size, the body heats up slowly and reaches the maximum body temperature toward the end of the day, as desert temperatures begin to decrease. Gemsbok are often seen standing on the top of dunes or hills at the end of a hot day. At such times they are catching the cool evening breezes and “offloading” the heat stored in the body during the day. The thin fur and poor insulation allow rapid cooling.