Page 14 - Present Day Wildlife_Float

The term 'Antelope' is used to describe animals that do not fit into any group of similar an-
imals. They are members of the family Bovidae, which also contains sheep, cattle and goats. You
could say they are, in some respects, similar to sheep, cattle and goats, but are not the same.

There are a known 91 species of Antelope,
most of whom are located in Africa. Generally,
animals labelled 'Antelopes' are herbivores and
walk on hooved feet using only two of their toes
(known as even toed mammals). They also have
various shaped horns, protruding from the tops
of their heads, although not all Antelopes have
horns.

Antelopes are a very diverse species, one of the
largest, the Giant eland stands at around 150–
180 cm at the shoulder and weighs around 1000
kg and the smallest, the Royal antelope stands at
a tiny 25 cm at the shoulder and weighs 2 to 3 kg.
Their habitats can also swing from one extreme
to another; from the hot savannahs of Africa, to
the mountainous regions of Europe, Africa, Ka-
zakhstan, and any grassland, swampland or for-
est in-between. However, Antelopes are not na-
tive to Australasia or Antarctica or the Americas, although some have been
imported into some of these regions for zoos and hunting purposes.

Antelopes are prey for most large carnivorous predators and have
Black WildBeast little or no protection against a direct one-to-one attack. They do howev-
Blue Wildbeest er, display a diverse blend of strong camouflaging colours, reflecting the
Blue Duiker habitat they live in; this could be a dark misty grey of the mountain goat-
Blesbok Antelope, to bright dusty oranges and browns of the African savannah
Bontebok species. This camouflage, of the African Antelope, helps hide them from
Duiker the searching eyes of predators. They also have exceptionally sensitive
Grysbok hearing and if spooked can take off at an incredible speed and maintain it
over a long distance, hopefully leaving the predator lying exhausted far
Lechwe behind them.
Mountain Reed-
buck Although many Antelopes are tagged as such, because of the uncer-
Nilgai tainty about their grouping, there is a group known as ‘true Antelopes’.
Nyala This group is still a member of the family Bovidae, but are there under
Okapi their own genera; Gazella, Nanger, Eudorcas, and Antilope. The genus
Reedbuck Antelope has only one extant species, the Blackbuck, native to India and
Rhebok Nepal. The remaining genera are made-up of different species of Gazelle,
Sharpes Grysbok native only to Africa and Asia. The Gazelle is a relatively small antelope,
Sitatunga standing around 50 to 110 cm, and like most of the African Antelope, ga-
Springbok zelles are herding animals and depend on their camouflaged colouring
Suni and speed to escape danger.
Tsessebe
Goat