Kongoni
Body: slender, shoulders higher than hindquarters.
Body colour sandy fawn, rump pale or white.
Tail with a blackish fringe in upper margin.
Height to shoulder: 1.2 m. Length: 2.1 m. Weight: males 150 kg, females 120 kg.
Head: very elongated and narrow.
Ringed horns, relatively short and shaped as a tumbled parenthesis or bracket, present in both sexes and thicker in males.
Horns are rooted in a frontal bony skin-coated appendix. Ears long, narrow and pointed.
Inhabits grassy plains, open grassy scrublands and lightly wooded areas, frequently in undulated country.
Common in Southern Kenya, from the sea level up to 2000 m.
Until one hundred years ago it was the most abundant plains antelope, but poaching and habitat encroachment have greatly reduced its numbers.
Strict grazer. Prefers medium-height pasture and selects the leafy parts of grass.
Drinks daily, though under drought conditions it can withstand long periods without water.
Gregarious and territorial, and equally diurnal or nocturnal.
Territorial bulls mark out their area with urine and dung in regular places, as well as grunting and rubbing the soil with horns and preorbital glands.
They defend their territory from elevated positions such as termite mounds.
Old bulls are solitary, whereas young males usually rule a group of females with their progeny.
The groups are composed of up to 10 cows with their calves, though in the dry season several groups may aggregate in tall grass areas to form herds of hundreds, sometimes associated with wildebeest and zebra, to disperse again with the onset of rains.
They show a trend towards sedentariness, permanently dwelling in a male's territory, who will rule the group, or either roaming through several males' territories.
When males are two years old, they leave the maternal group and gather in herds of up to 30 bachelors, occasionally including old bulls dispossessed of their territory.
At the age of 3 they start competing for their own territory.
Their longevity is 10-12 years. They are peaceful as a rule, but males may sporadically fight fiercely.
Their gallop is fast and their smell is better than their sight.
Their main predator is the lion, but they can also be chased by hyenas and hunting dogs, whilst leopards and cheetah prey on calves.
At the sight of an enemy, both males and females raise the alert using a loud snort.
Body colour sandy fawn, rump pale or white.
Tail with a blackish fringe in upper margin.
Height to shoulder: 1.2 m. Length: 2.1 m. Weight: males 150 kg, females 120 kg.
Head: very elongated and narrow.
Ringed horns, relatively short and shaped as a tumbled parenthesis or bracket, present in both sexes and thicker in males.
Horns are rooted in a frontal bony skin-coated appendix. Ears long, narrow and pointed.
Inhabits grassy plains, open grassy scrublands and lightly wooded areas, frequently in undulated country.
Common in Southern Kenya, from the sea level up to 2000 m.
Until one hundred years ago it was the most abundant plains antelope, but poaching and habitat encroachment have greatly reduced its numbers.
Strict grazer. Prefers medium-height pasture and selects the leafy parts of grass.
Drinks daily, though under drought conditions it can withstand long periods without water.
Gregarious and territorial, and equally diurnal or nocturnal.
Territorial bulls mark out their area with urine and dung in regular places, as well as grunting and rubbing the soil with horns and preorbital glands.
They defend their territory from elevated positions such as termite mounds.
Old bulls are solitary, whereas young males usually rule a group of females with their progeny.
The groups are composed of up to 10 cows with their calves, though in the dry season several groups may aggregate in tall grass areas to form herds of hundreds, sometimes associated with wildebeest and zebra, to disperse again with the onset of rains.
They show a trend towards sedentariness, permanently dwelling in a male's territory, who will rule the group, or either roaming through several males' territories.
When males are two years old, they leave the maternal group and gather in herds of up to 30 bachelors, occasionally including old bulls dispossessed of their territory.
At the age of 3 they start competing for their own territory.
Their longevity is 10-12 years. They are peaceful as a rule, but males may sporadically fight fiercely.
Their gallop is fast and their smell is better than their sight.
Their main predator is the lion, but they can also be chased by hyenas and hunting dogs, whilst leopards and cheetah prey on calves.
At the sight of an enemy, both males and females raise the alert using a loud snort.
