Addax
Scientific Name: Addax Nasomaculatus
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 16 to 18 years
Average shoulder height: 1m to 1m08
Average mass: 80 to 130 kg
Habitat: Desert antelope that lives in arid areas, sand dunes, away from waterholes.
Diet: Aristida grasses and seeds; perennials which turn green and sprout at the slightest bit of humidity or rain.
Breeding: 310 to 340 days, with a single young.
The coloring of their coat varies with the season. In the winter it is greyish brown with white hind quarters and legs. In the summer, the coat turns almost completely white or sandy blonde. Their head is marked with brown or black patches that form an X over their nose. They have a scraggly beard and prominent red nostrils. Long black hairs stick out between their curved and spiraling horns ending in a short main on the neck. Horns, found on both males and females, have two to three twists and can reach 80 centimetres in females and 120 centimetres in males. Their tail is short and slender, ending in a puff of hair. The hooves are broad with flat soles and strong dewclaws to help them walk on soft sand.
Addax live in desert terrain where they eat grass, and leaves of what bushes are available. They are amply suited to live in the deep desert under extreme conditions. Addax can survive without free water almost indefinitely, because they get moisture from their food and dew that condenses on plants. Addax are nocturnal: they rest during the day in depressions they dig for themselves. Addax are able to live far apart, because their over developed sensory powers allow them to locate each other at great distances.
Greater Kudu
Scientific Name: Tragelaphus strepsiceros strepsiceros
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 14 years
Average shoulder height: 1.50 m
Average mass: 230 kg
Habitat: Savannah and open woodland (especially thornveld).
Diet: Leaves, sprouts, pods ans even fresh grass. Dependent on water.
Breeding: 7 months, with a single young.
Vocalization: A very loud hoarse cough.
They have a narrow body with long legs, and their coats can range from brown/bluish-grey to reddish-brown. They possess between 4–12 vertical white stripes along their torso. The head tends to be darker in colour than the rest of the body, and exhibits a small white chevron which runs between the eyes.
Male Greater Kudus tend to be much larger than the females, and vocalise much more, utilising low grunts, clucks, humming, and gasping.[citation needed] The males also have large manes running along their throats, and large horns with two and a half twists, which, were they to be straightened, would reach a length of 1 metre on average. However, the male horns do not begin to grow until the male is between the age of 6–12 months, twisting once at around 2 years of age, and not reaching the full two and a half twist until they are 6 years old.
Formerly four subspecies have been described, but recently only one to three subspecies have been accepted based on colour, number of stripes and horn length.
• T. s. strepsiceros, southern parts of the range from southern Kenia to Namibia, Botswana and South Africa
• T. s. chora, northeastern Africa from northern Kenia through Ethiopia to eastern SUdan, western Somalia and Eritrea
• T. s. cottoni, Chad and western Sudan
This classification was supported by the genetic difference of one specimen of northern Kenia (T. s. chora) in comparison with several samples from the southern part of the range between Tansania and Zimbabwe (T. s. strepsiceros). No specimen of the northwestern population, which may represent a third subspecies (T. s. cottoni) was tested within this study
Also to consider East African Greater Kudu (bea) and Cape Kudu as sub species, as well as Lesser Kudu (tragelaphus imberbis).
Lesser Kudu
Scientific Name: Tragelaphus imberbis
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 12 years
Average shoulder height: .98 m (39”)
Average mass: 80 kg (175 lb)
Habitat: Lives in dry bush or savannah country. Although it can go for several days without drinking, it rarely strays far from water.
Diet: Mainly meagre grasses and acacia shoots and leaves.
Breeding: 7 months, with a single young.
Vocalization: Barking cries when alerted to danger.
Lesser Kudu stand about a metre at the shoulder and weigh 55 to 105 kilograms, males are larger than females. Lesser Kudu males are grey-brown while females are chestnut the coat is lighter on their underside. Both have about ten white stripes on their backs and two white tufts on the underside of their necks. Males have a small mane and horns of about 70 centimetres with one twist.
Lesser Kudu live in dry thorn bush and forest and eat mainly leaves. Lesser Kudu are nocturnal and matinine crepuscular. They live in groups of two to five ranging up to twenty-four on rare occasions these have about equal numbers of males and females.
Total numbers are estimated to number at least 118,000, about 33% of them in protected areas. Numbers are considered to be in decline overall, as a result of meat hunting, overgrazing, and outbreaks of rinderpest. The level of decline is predicted to reach at least 25% over a period of three generations (21-24 years), so approaching the threshold for Vulnerable under criterion A4cde. The Lesser Kudu will probably persist in the arid scrublands of northeastern Africa, as long as human and livestock densities remain relatively low in extensive parts of its range such as northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. It nevertheless faces a continuing, long-term population decline as meat hunting and pastoralism increase within its remaining range. Its status may eventually decline to threatened.
The Lesser Kudu’s long-term survival prospects would be enhanced by improved protection and management of the relatively few protected areas which support substantial populations. In addition, its value as a trophy animal gives the species high potential for increased revenue generation in the extensive bushlands where it still occurs in good numbers outside national parks and equivalent reserves.
Cape Eland
Scientific Name: Taurotragus Oryx
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 15 to 18 years
Average shoulder height: 1.65 to 1.75 m
Average mass: 600 to 900 kg
Habitat: Very adaptable, Found from semi-desert shrubveld to different types of woodland and moist mountain grassland.
Diet: Mainly browsers, sometimes grass. Drink water regurlarly when available.
Breeding: 260 days, with a single young.
Vocalization: Females ‘moo’, calves bleat, adult bulls bellow, bark and grumble. A large antelope, the ground colour is a dull fawn with a dark brown mark on the rear of the foreleg behind the knee. The horns are massive, short, smooth and have a close screw-like spiral in the basal half. Both sexes have horns with the females having the longuest. As the male ages it becomes darker on the neck. The adult animal lacks the white body stripes prevalent in other subspecies. Old bulls grow a tuft of long hair on the forehead. It can jump up to 2m40 high. A characteristic clicking sound can be heard when they walk.
Eland is a genus of antelopes, containing two main species: the Common Eland, and the Giant Eland. The largest African antelope. In the 19th and 20th centuries, eland have been undergoing selection for meat quality and milk quantity in the Askaniya-Nova Zoological Park in the Ukraine. However domestication of the animal was unsuccessful. The largest of all african antelope Male 600kg-800kg, even a ton on rare occasions Female 400kg – 600kg.
Springbok
Scientific Name: Antidorcas Marsupialis
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 12 years
Average shoulder height: .74 m (29”)
Average mass: 35 kg (77 lb)
Habitat: Prefers dry open grass and shrubveld and dry river-beds. Important requirements are sufficient plants to feed on, bushes that are not too high and dense which block their movements and view. Avoids mountains, woodland and tall grass.
Diet: Grass, sprouts and leaves of Karoo bushes and other herbs. Subsists without water, but drinks when available, even stagnant water.
Breeding: 6 months, with a single young.
Vocalization: Low-pitched grumbling bellow. Whistling snort when upset.
The Springbok (Afrikaans and Dutch: spring = jump; bok = antelope or goat) (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a medium sized brown and white gazelle that stands about 75 cm high. Springbuck males weigh between 33-48 kg and the females between to 30-44 kg. Their colouring consists of three colours, white, reddish/tan and dark brown. Their backs are tan coloured and at the bottom they are white, along each side there is a dark brown stripe extending from the shoulder on towards the inside thigh.
They can reach running speeds of up to 80 km/h. The Latin name marsupialis derives from a pocket-like skin flap which extends along the middle of the back from the tail onwards. When the male springbok is showing off his strength to attract a mate, or to ward off predators, he starts off in a stiff-legged trot, jumping up into the air with an arched back every few paces and lifting the flap along his back. Lifting the flap causes the long white hairs under the tail to stand up in a conspicuous fan shape, which in turn emits a strong floral scent of sweat. This ritual is known as pronking from the Afrikaans, meaning to boast or show off.
Springbok inhabit the dry inland areas of south and southwestern Africa. Their range extends from the northwestern part of South Africa through the Kalahari desert into Namibia and Botswana. They used to be very common, forming some of the largest herds of mammals ever documented[1], but their numbers have diminished significantly since the 19th century due to hunting and fences from farms blocking their migratory routes.
Although they were once fairly scarce, Springbok numbers have drastically increased and they are now almost as abundant as before, thanks to conservation and efforts by the South African hunting industry.
Springbok are hunted as game throughout Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, because of their beautiful coats and because they are very common and easy to support on farms with very low rainfall, which means they are cheap to hunt as well. The export of springbok skins mainly from Namibia and South Africa is also a booming industry.
Conservation methods and responsible hunting restrictions prevent the decrease of numbers and ensure that they aren’t over-hunted.
Impala
Scientific Name:
– Southern: Aepyceros melampus melampus
– Black-faced / Angolan: Aepyceros melampus petersi
– East African: Aepyceros melampus rendilis
Family group: BovidaeAge: 12 years Average shoulder height: .90 m Average mass: 65 kg Habitat: Open or savannah woodlands, avoids open plains except when scattered woodlands are available.Diet: Leaves and grass. Dependent on water.Breeding: 6 months, with a single young.Vocalization: An alarm snort. Adult males make a roaring-rattling sound and snort, especially during the mating season.
Average mass for an Impala is approximately 75 kilograms. They are reddish-brown in colour , have lighter flanks and white underbellies with a characteristic “M” marking on its rear. Males have lyre-shaped horns which can reach up to 90 centimeters in length.
When frightened or startled the whole impala herd starts leaping about in order to confuse their predator. They can jump distances more than 9 meters (30 ft) and 2.5 meters (8 ft) high. Leopards, cheetah, Nile crocodiles, lions, spotted hyenas and wild dogs prey on impala.
Females and young form herds of up to two hundred individuals. When food is plentiful, adult males will establish territories and round up any female herd that enter their grounds and will chase away bachelor males that follow. They will even chase away recently weaned males. A male impala tries to prevent any female from leaving its territory. During the dry seasons, territories are abandoned as herds must travel farther to find food. Large, mixed tranquil herds of females and males form.
Young male impala who have been made to leave their previous herd form bachelor herds of around thirty individuals. Males that are able to dominate their herd are contenders for assuming control of their territory.
Sable Antelope
Scientific Name: Hippotragus NigerFamily
group: Bovidae
Age: 14 to 16 years Average shoulder
height: 1.45 m Average mass: 200 to 250 kg
Habitat: Hills and wooded savannah.
Diet: Mainly grass, sometimes leaves at the end of the dry season.
Drink water regularly.Breeding: 270 to 285 days, with a single young.
Sable antelope males are larger than females. Female Sable Antelope are chestnut to dark brown darkening as they mature while males are very distinctively black. Both sexes have a white underbelly, white cheeks and a white chin. They have a shaggy mane on the back of their neck. Sable antelope have ringed horns which arch backward, in females these canreach a meter, but in males they can reach over one and a half meters.
They are diurnal but are less active during the heat of the day. Sable Antelope form herds of ten to thirty females and calves led by a single male. Sable Antelope males will fight among themselves; they drop to their knees and use their horns.
Blue wildebeest
Scientific Name: Connochaetes taurinus taurinus
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 20 years
Average shoulder height: 1.30 m
Average mass: 200 to 280 kg
Habitat: Open savannah, especially thorn and tamboti woodland.
Diet: Mainly short grass of up to 15 cm. Sometimes also bark and leaves. Dependent on water.
Breeding: 8 months, with a single young (occasionally two).
Vocalization: Snorts, bellow and grunts. Small ones bleat, young ones make a ‘hunn’ sound.
It has a beefy muscular front-heavy appearance with a distinctive robust muzzle, it strides with relatively slender legs and moves gracefully and quietly most of the time, belying the reputation for stampeding in herds; however the stampeding characteristic may sometimes be observed.
Probably the most conspicuous feature of the Blue Wildebeest are the large horns shaped like parentheses, extending outward to the side and then curving up and inward . In the male the horns can attain a total span of almost 90 centimeters, while the female’s horn width is about half the size of the male. These cow-like horns of both sexes are somewhat broad at the base and are without ridges. However, as further sexual dimorphism, the male horns have a boss-like structure joining the two horns. The male is larger than the female with a total body length of up to 2.5 meters.
Young Blue Wildebeest are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult colouration at age nine weeks. The adult’s hue actually varies from a deep slate or bluish gray all the way to light gray or even grayish-brown. The dorsal coat and flanks are slightly lighter in hue than the ventral hide and underparts. Dark brown vertical bands of slightly longer hair mark the neck and forequarters, and from a distance lend a perception of skin wrinkling. The manes of both sexes appear long, stiff, thick and jet black, a colour assumed by the tail and face as well. Sexual dichromism is exhibited by the males displaying decidedly darker colouration than the females. All features and markings of this species are bilaterally symmetric for both sexes.
Blue Wildebeest are unusually territorial, adult males occupying their territories for a month or for the entire year. The physical size of territories ranges from one to two hectares. The bucks mark territory boundaries with dung heaps, preorbital gland secretions, hoof scent glands and pawing of the earth. When competing over territory, males grunt quite loudly, make a thrusting motion with their horns and perform other displays of aggression.
Black Wildebeest or White Tail Gnu
Scientific Name: Connochaetes gnou
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 20 years
Average shoulder height: 1.20 m
Average mass: 165 kg
Habitat: Open plains with water.
Diet: Grass and karro bushes. Dependent on water.
Breeding: 8 months, with a single young.
Vocalization: Snorts and a loud ‘ghe-nu’ sound by territorial males
The natural populations of this species, endemic to the southern region of Africa, have been almost completely exterminated, but the species has been reintroduced widely, both in private areas and nature reserves throughout most of Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Namibia and Kenya
Gregarious, female herds, bachelor herds and territorial males can be distinguished. A territorial male is closely attached to its territory throughout the year, marking it with urine and glandular excretions; it is the only male that mates. Female herds are allowed to pass freely through his territory. Threatening behaviour-pawing or horning the ground and kneeling; serious fights are rare. Herds are active early in the morning and late afternoon. They rest during the heat of the day and these resting periods become shorter during winter.
Hartebeest – Bubale caama
Scientific Name: Alcelaphus caama
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 13 years
Average shoulder height: 1.24 m (49”)
Average mass: 155 kg (340 lb)
Habitat: Found in semi-desert savannah. May occur in open woodland but avoids dense woodland. Prefers open plains such as grassplains, floodplains, grassveld, vleis and the strips of grass around pans. Independent of water.
Diet: Grass, especially redgrass, also leaves. Drink when water is available.
Breeding: 8 months, with a single young.
Vocalization: Sneezing-snorting sound as alarm.
The word hartebeest comes from Afrikaans and was originally called hertebeest. The name was given by the Boers who thought it resembled deer (hert in Dutch, the Dutch ‘beest’ means ‘beast’ in English).
The Hartebeest stands almost 1.5 m (5 ft) at the shoulder and weighs anywhere from 120-200 kg (265-440 lb). Male Hartebeest are a dark brown colour while females are yellow brown. Both sexes have horns which can reach lengths up to 70 cm (27 in). Hartebeest live in grassland and open forest where they eat grass. They are diurnal and spend the morning and late afternoon eating. Herds contain five to twenty individuals but can occasionally contain up to three hundred and fifty.
Six subspecies have been described, previously seven when it still included the Red Hartebeest which is now considered a distinct species after phylogeographic studies.
• Bubal Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus (Extinct)
• Coke’s Hartebeest or Kongoni, Alcelaphus buselaphus cokii
• Lelwel Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel
• Western Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus major
• Swayne’s Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus swaynei
• Tora Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus tora
Oryx Beisa
Scientific Name: Oryx Gazella Beisa
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 12 to 14 years
Average shoulder height: 1.25 m (49”)
Average mass: 225 kg (495 lb)
Habitat: High plateaux which are fairly fertile except during the dry season. They can go for days without drinking and may be encountered very far from water.
Diet: Mainly herbivorous but also, particularly in the Southern part of its habitat, can enjoy a varied diet.
Breeding: 9 months, with a single young.
Vocalization: Between a growl and a bellow.
The East African Oryx (Oryx beisa), also known as the Beisa occurs in two subspecies, Common Beisa Oryx (Oryx beisa beisa) found in steppe and semi-desert throughout the Horn of Africa and north of the Tana River, and Fringe-eared Oryx (Oryx beisa callotis) south of the Tana River in Kenya and parts of Tanzania.
East African Oryx stand just over a metre at the shoulder and weigh around 175 kilograms. They have a grey coat with a white underside, separated from the grey by a stripe of black, there are also black stripes where the head attaches to the neck, along the nose and from the eye to the mouth and on the forehead. There is a small chestnut coloured mane. The ringed horns are thin and straight. They are found on both sexes and typically a measure of 75-80 cm is considered big.
East African Oryx are able to store water by raising their body temperature (so as to avoid perspiration). They gather in herds of five to forty animals often with females moving at the front and large male guarding from the rear. Some older males are solitary. Radio tracking studies show that solitary males are often accompanied for brief periods by breeding condition females, so it is probable they are executing a strategy to maximise their chances of reproduction.
Nyala
Scientific Name: Tragelaphus Angasi
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 14 years
Average shoulder height: 1.12 m (44”)
Average mass: 110 kg (242 lb)
Habitat: Associated with thickets in dry woodland. This includes dense woodland, riverine forests, island bush in floodplains and other thickets. Surrounding floodplains and grass plains are visited when grass sprouts.
Diet: Leaves, branches, fruit and flowers. Drink water daily when available.
Breeding: 7 months, with a single young.
Vocalization: Female makes a ‘click’ sound, young ones bleat. Males have a deep bark as an alarm call.
The name “Nyala” is the Swahili name for this antelope. The Latin name comes from “tragos” (he-goat), “elaphos” (deer), and George Francis Angas, an English artist and naturalist.
The male stands up to 3.5 feet (110 cm), the female is up to 3 feet tall. The male has loosely spiraled horns and a long fringe on throat and underparts; the female has no horns and no noticeable fringe. The male is dark brown, white on the face and neck, with vertical white stripes on the body. The female is reddish brown with clear striping.
The rare Mountain Nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) is limited to central Ethiopia. While superficially similar to the lowland nyala, it is now considered more closely related to the kudu.
Form temporary herds of 3-30 animals with home ranges overlapping. Solitary young ones, females and males, young male herds, adult male herds, female herds, family herds and mixed herds can be distinguished. Family herds are the most stable of all. The male horns the ground or lifts its mane when another male is nearby. Feeds when it is cool, even at night, and rest during the hottest part of the day.
Common Blesbuck
Scientific Name: Damaliscus Dorcas Phillipsii
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 10 to 15 years
Average shoulder height: .90 to 1 m
Average mass: 40 to 55 kg
Habitat: Grass plains.
Diet: Grass, preferably sweet with sufficient drinking water.
Breeding: +/- 245 days, with a single young.
Vocalization: Snorts and growls.
The Blesbok, or Blesbuck, (Damaliscus dorcas phillpsi) is related to the Bontebok (Damaliscus dorcas dorcas) and it is purplish antelope with a distinctive white face and forehead. Its white face is the origin of its name, because ‘bles’ is the Afrikaans word for blaze. Although they are close relatives of the Bontebok and they can interbreed creating an animal known as the Bontebles they do not share habitat, the Bontebok being found in large numbers on from as far south as Eastern Cape, the plains of the Free State and the Transvaal Highveld. They are a plains species and dislike wooded areas. The blesbuck is indigenous to South Africa and are found in large numbers in all national parks with open grasslands. They were first discovered in the 17th century, and were found in numbers so numerous that herds that reached from horizon to horizon where documented.
The neck and the top of the back of the blesbuck are brown. Lower down on the flanks and buttocks, the coloring becomes darker. The belly, the inside of the buttocks and the area up to the base of the tail are white. Blesbucks can be easily differentiated from other antelopes because they have a distinct white face and forehead. The legs are brown with a white patch behind the top part of the front legs. Lower legs whitish. Both sexes have horns, female horns are slightly more slender. The blesbok differs from the bontebok by having less white on the coat and the blaze on the face, which is usually divided, their coats are also a lighter brown than that of the bontebok. The length of their horns averages at around 38cm.
White and Yellow Blesbuck are also to be found in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Small Antelope
Africa has a big variety of small antelope, herewith a few of them.
Dik dik
Scientific Name: Madoqua – Rhynchotragus
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 8 -10 years
Average shoulder height: .30 m to .36 m (12” to 14”)
Average mass: 3 – 5 kg (7 – 11 lb)
Habitat: From thickets and dense woodland on hard, stony ground to areas with sheltering scrub, preferably at the base of hills. Also on scrubby flats and reed-beds near rivers.
Diet: Mainly leaves, occasionally green grass. Drinks water when it is available.
Breeding: 5-6 months, with a single lamb.
Vocalization: An explosive whistle and a high trembling whistling sound
A dik-dik, pronounced “d?k’ d?k”, and named for the sound it makes when alarmed, is a small antelope of the Genus Madoqua that lives in the bush of East Africa, Angola and Namibia. Dik-diks stand 30–40 cm at the shoulder and weigh 3–6 kg. They have an elongated snout and a soft coat that is grey or brownish above and white below. The hair on the crown forms an upright tuft that sometimes partially conceals the short, ringed horns of the male. Female dik-diks are somewhat larger than males. The males have horns, which are small (about 3 in or 7.5 cm), slanted backwards. The head of the dik-dik often seems disproportionate to the animal’s small body. The upper body is grey-brown, while the lower parts of the body, including the legs, belly, crest, and flanks, are tan. A black spot below the inside corner of each eye contains a preorbital gland that produces a dark sticky secretion. Dik-diks insert grass stems and twigs into the gland to scent-mark their territories. Dik-diks may live in places as varied as dense forest or open plain, but they must have good cover and not too much tall grass or plants. They will move when the grass grows too tall for them to see over. They usually live in pairs over a 12-acre territory. The territories are often in low, shrubby bush along dry, rocky streambeds where there are plenty of hiding places. Dik-diks have a series of runways through and around the borders of their territories to block off other Dik-diks, mainly females.
The main species are Damara Dik Dik (Namibia), Cordeaux’s Dik Dik, Salt’s Dik Dik, Guenther’s Dik Dik and Kirk’s Dik Dik
Duikers
Scientific Name: Cephalophus
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 6-12 years
Average shoulder height: .35 m to .80 m (14” to 32”)
Average mass: 5 – 60 kg (11 – 132 lb)
Habitat: From woodland with sufficient undergrowth and thickets, to rainforests and gallery forest.
Diet: Leaves, wild fruits, flowers, vegetables and seed.
Breeding: A single lamb.
Vocalization: A piercing alarm whistle. Loud ‘mew’, like a cat, when in danger.
A duiker is any of about 19 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae.
Duikers are shy and elusive creatures with a fondness for dense cover; most are forest dwellers and even the species living in more open areas are quick to disappear into thickets. Their name comes from the Afrikaans word for diver and refers to their practice of diving into tangles of shrubbery.
With a slightly arched body and the front legs a little shorter than the hind legs, they are well-shaped to penetrate thickets. They are primarily browsers rather than grazers, eating leaves, shoots, seeds, fruit, buds and bark, and often follow flocks of birds or troops of monkeys to take advantage of the fruit they drop. They supplement their diet with meat: duikers take insects and carrion from time to time, and even stalk and capture rodents or small birds. The Blue Duiker has a fondness for ants.
The Blue Duiker is the smallest and the yellow-backed duiker is the biggest of the family.
Klipspringer
Scientific Name: Oreotragus Oreotragus
Family group: Bovidae
Age: 7 years
Average shoulder height: .53 m (21”)
Average mass: 15 kg (33 lb)
Habitat: Associated with rocky areas, mountains with rocks bordering ravines, ridges with rocks and juts and rocky hills. Wanders over long distances. Independent of water.
Diet: Mainly leaves, occasionally grass.
Breeding: 7 ½ months with a single lamb.
Vocalization: Alarm call a loud, high-pitched explosion of air .
The Klipspringer (literally “rock jumper” in Afrikaans), Oreotragus oreotragus, also known colloquially as a mvundla (from Xhosa “umvundla”, meaning “rabbit”), is a small African antelope that lives from the Cape of Good Hope all the way up East Africa and into Ethiopia.
Only the males have horns that are usually about 20-25cm (4-6 inches) long. They stand on the tips of their hooves. With a thick and dense speckled “salt and pepper” patterned coat of an almost olive shade, Klipspringers blend in well with the kopje (rock outcrops, pronounced “kah-pee”) on which they can usually be found.
The klipspringer is known for its remarkable jumping ablility and is able to leap to staggering hights of 25 feet which is about 15 times its own height.