Kudu

 Kudu are highly alert and notoriously hard to approach. When they detect danger – often using their large, radar-like ears – they give a hoarse alarm bark, then flee with a distinctive, rocking-horse running motion, the male laying back his horns to avoid overhead obstructions.The common name kudu is derived from the indigenous Khoikhoi language of Southern Africa. The scientific name is derived from Greek: Tragos denotes a he-goat and elaphos a deer; Strephis means ‘twisting’ and Keras means ‘horn’. The horns of a mature bull kudu have two and a half twists, and, if straightened, would reach an average length of 120cm. However, they may occasionally have three full twists and the record length is a whopping 187.64cm. The horns do not begin to grow until the bull reaches 6–12 months, twisting once at around two-years-of-age and not reaching the full two-and-a-half twists until the age of six. They have long served different traditional communities, as both embellishment and musical instrument, the latter including the shofar, a Jewish ritual horn blown at Rosh Hashanah.
Male kudus are rarely physically aggressive but may spar during the courtship season, shoving one another with their horns. Occasionally, during these contests their horns become interlocked and, if unable to free themselves, both males may die.  The traditional sport of Kudu dung-spitting (Bokdrol Spoeg in Afrikaans) is practiced in the South African Afrikaner community. The winner is the contestant who is able to spit one of the antelope’s small, hard dung pellets the furthest – with the distance measured to where it comes to rest. An annual world championship was launched in 1994, with contests held at community events, game festivals and tourism shows. The world record stands at 15.56m, set in 2006 by Shaun van Rensburg Addo.   

They are great jumpers, despite their huge size, and can clear a two-metre fence with ease.Listen closely and you’ll hear a distinct clicking sound as they approach. This is thought to come from their hooves, which splay apart and click back together under the animals’ great weight. It was both food and spiritual inspiration to the prehistoric hunter-gatherer peoples of southern Africa. And it features prominently in rock- and cave-art across the region. Today place names such as Elandsfontein and surnames such as Mpofu (‘eland’ in Zulu) suggest how central to the region’s culture this antelope once was.  The giant eland is also called ‘Lord Derby's eland’ in honour of Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby. It was first seen in England between 1835 and 1851. At that time, Lord Derby sent botanist Joseph Burke to South Africa to collect animals for his museum and menagerie. The common eland is better adapted than cattle to the African environment, and is easily domesticated. It has been farmed for its meat and milk in both South Africa and Russia. A female can produce up to 7kg of milk per day, which is richer in fat than cow milk.    

 The red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus caama ) or Cape hartebeest is a subspecies of the hartebeest found in Southern Africa. More than 130,000 individuals live in the wild. The red hartebeest is closely related to the tsessebe and the topi.    The red hartebeest is primarily found in southwestern Africa. Southern Africa's dissected topography, geologic diversity, climate oscillations, and mosaic of distinct vegetation types has been the primary means for radiation and diversification amidst hartebeest species, which has led red hartebeests to vary slightly in their capacity to consume the diets they do. Most ungulates in Africa are nomadic, as they are dependent on food sources that become depleted if they stay in one place. A. buselaphus lives in herds in open plains and scrublands in the sub-Saharan African climate.  Red hartebeests are grass feeders, which is evidenced by their long snouts, which give the advantage of an improved cropping ability to acquire and masticate grasses more efficiently. During the rainy season in southern Africa, the grass species Andropogon is in abundance and is the main source of dietary consumption. As grazers, their diets fluctuate seasonally, as they consume higher-quality, green primary production in wet seasons, and lower-quality sheath material in the dry seasons.    
 

  The blue wildebeest occurs in five distinct subspecies, each subtly different in size and colouration. The western white-bearded wildebeest (C. t. mearnsi) of the Serengeti has a white beard, for instance, while the beard of the larger common wildebeest (C. t. taurinus), found in southern Africa, is black. Around 80–90 percent of blue wildebeest calves are born within a synchronized two-to three-week birthing window, usually at the start of the rains when there is plenty of fresh growth to enable females to produce milk. The sheer numbers overwhelm predators, which can make little impact on the overall wildebeest population. Not all wildebeest migrate. Some form small resident herds, usually comprising up to ten females and their offspring, which remain in the same area year-round. The females in these herds tend to establish dominance hierarchies and drive away any outsiders who attempt to join. Blue wildebeests avoid competition with the plains zebra that often graze alongside them by eating different parts of the grass. While zebra prefer the longer grasses, using their tougher digestive systems and shearing front teeth to process this coarser diet, wildebeest prefer the shorter grasses down low, where their broader muzzle allows them to maximize their grazing efficiency.

 

   The black wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou ) or white-tailed gnu, is one of the two closely related wildebeest species. It is a member of the genus Connochaetes and family Bovidae. It was first described in 1780 by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann. The black wildebeest is typically 170–220 cm (67–87 in) in head-and-body length, and the typical weight is 110–180 kg (240–400 lb). Males stand about 111–121 cm (44–48 in) at the shoulder, while the height of the females is 106–116 cm (42–46 in). The black wildebeest is characterised by its white, long, horse-like tail. It also has a dark brown to black coat and long, dark-coloured hair between its forelegs and under its belly.  The black wildebeest is an herbivore, and almost the whole diet consists of grasses. Water is an essential requirement. The three distinct social groups are the female herds, the bachelor herds, and the territorial bulls. They are fast runners and communicate using a variety of visual and vocal communications. The primary breeding season for the black wildebeest is from February to April. A single calf is usually born after a gestational period of about 8 and a half months. The calf remains with its mother until her next calf is born a year later. The black wildebeest inhabits open plains, grasslands, and Karoo shrub lands.  The natural populations of black wildebeest, endemic in the southern part of Africa, were almost completely exterminated in the 19th century, due to their reputation as pests and the value of their hides and meat. However, the species has been reintroduced widely from captive specimens, both in private areas and nature reserves throughout most of Lesotho, Eswatini, and South Africa. The species has also been introduced outside its natural range in Namibia and Kenya.  
 

  A gemsbok’s straight, rapier-like horns can reach 120cm in length, and are longer and narrower in the female. They use their horns in territorial combat and as lethal weapons against predators. Gemsbok can kill lions. A low metabolism allows these antelopes to survive for much of the year without drinking. They get the moisture they need from their food, including desert melons that they dig up in times of drought. Gemsbok minimise water loss through perspiration by allowing their body temperature to rise to an astonishing 45°C and then dissipating the stored heat at night. Overheating is averted by a filigree of blood vessels in the nose, known as the carotid rete, through which all the blood that passes to the brain is circulated and cooled. With most other Kalahari antelope, one dominant breeding male controls a harem of females and young, and bachelor males form separate herds. By contrast, gemsbok form mixed herds of males and females.  After giving birth, a female  hides her calf for 3–6 weeks, remaining nearby and visiting a few times a day to nurse. The calf’s pale brown colour works as camouflage. It does not develop its striking black-and-white face markings until it is ready to join the herd with the mother. 

  According to National Geographic, impalas can leap up to 10 feet in the air and travel as far as 33 feet in a single bound—which, for an animal with an average height of 3 feet and length of around 4 feet, is a considerable distance. This agility makes it easy for impalas to manoeuvre over and around obstacles, which comes in handy when they need to escape predators.    Three of the main prey animals on the southern African savannah (impalas, zebras, and wildebeests) can recognize one another's warning cries, according to researchers from the University of Minnesota. That works to everyone's advantage if a predator is close. If a zebra, for instance, sounds a warning call, then any nearby zebras, wildebeests, or impalas know to flee.However, the study found that zebras were more likely to ignore warning calls from impalas, Popular Science reported. That makes sense, as zebras can weigh six times as much as impalas and make for hardier prey. Oddly, wildebeests were more likely to flee the area after hearing a cry from an impala than from another wildebeest. Researchers felt that could be because wildebeests often judged it was safer to move quickly and return in case of a false alarm than stay and risk attack. Impalas themselves, however, were sceptical of calls made by their own kind. According to researcher Meredith Palmer, it's because impalas are naturally anxious and tend to sound false alarms.Impalas in southern Africa are synchronous breeders, meaning they tend to mate and give birth around the same time each year. Impala breeding usually corresponds with the wet season—they usually mate in May, at the end of the wet season, and give birth in November, at the start of it. That predictable breeding schedule usually gives impala calves their best shot at survival. Impalas and other prey face more risk in the dry season, when dwindling food and water supplies force predators and prey toward the same geographic locations.    

 The white blaze on the blesbok’s face is its most striking feature. In fact their name comes the Dutch word ‘bles’, which means blaze.   Both sexes have ringed horns. A grazer, the blesbok is most often found on its green; green grass of home. Baby blesbok are most likely to be born in November and December after a gestation period of about 240 days.
It is not surprising that the bontebok is so similar to the blesbok as this antelope (Damaliscus pygargus pygarus), whose was originally confined to the south western Cape, is a sub-species of the blesbok, formally known as Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi.   

  he scientific name of the springbok is Antidorcas marsupialis.  The sole member of the genus Antidorcas, this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1780.  The common name “springbok” comes from the Afrikaans words spring (“jump”) and bok (“antelope” or “goat”); the first recorded use of the name dates to 1775.  Springbok range includes south and southwestern Africa, mainly in the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Angola and the Republic of South Africa.  Springbok are mostly confined to game reserves and farms in treeless savannah associated with the edges of dry lake beds.  A graceful, slender, long-legged antelope, the springbok reaches 71 to 86 cm (28 to 34 in) at the shoulder and weighs between 27 and 42 kg (60 and 93 lb).  Both sexes have a pair of black, 35 to 50 cm (14 to 20 in) long horns that curve backwards.  The coat is pale to rich cinnamon brown with extensive areas of white including the head, ears, underparts, backs of legs, rump, and tail. A heavy black to brown to light brown side stripe, narrow cheek stripe, and tail tip contrast with the white markings.  Springbok are diurnal and are most active in the early morning, the late afternoon and the early, dark evening hours.  A mixed feeder comparable to Thomson’s gazelle, the springbok grazes during the rainy season and browses on foliage, forbs, and tsama melons during the dry season. It drinks when water is available but can subsist indefinitely on browse with a water content of at least 10 percent.  The social structure of the springbok is similar to that of Thomson’s gazelle. They usually form groups with a fluid association of 5 to 60 individuals, although temporary associations can number in the hundreds.  
  

 Warthogs have a typical pig-like appearance and come from the same family as domestic pigs, wild boars and babirusa. They have large, fairly flat faces containing wart like structures just above the snout, which is where their name is derived from. They have two sets of warts and these are a lot bigger and more pronounced in males. Warthogs also have tusks which develop from their canine teeth and protrude above the upper lip. At times warthogs can appear quite ferocious. They use this tactic well, however they are mainly grazers and primarily eat only grasses and roots. There are two species of warthog, the desert warthog and the most well known and widespread, common warthog. Desert warthogs can be differentiated from the common species by their curled ear tips, larger snout and lack of front teeth. The warthog is the only pig that is adapted to live and graze in savannah type habitats. They like more open areas and do not generally inhabit forests, rainforests and areas of dense undergrowth. Although they like more dry surroundings, warthogs wallow in muddy water daily. This can often result in their skin taking on the colour of the mud they bathe in. They do this to help cool down on hot days. Because savannah areas can get fairly cool at night, and warthogs do not have a lot of hair to keep them warm, they like to find burrows or holes to help keep them warm. They often utilise aardvark or porcupine holes and modify them for their own purpose.