Antelopes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The word antelope stems from an ancient Greek word, antholops. According to Eustathius of Antioch (c. 336), this was the name of a fabulous animal “haunting the banks of the Euphrates, very savage, hard to catch and having long, saw-like horns capable of cutting down trees.”

One theory is that the name may derive from the Greek anthos (‘flower’) and ops (‘eye’), thus ‘flower-eyed’, perhaps referring to the beautiful eyes or long eyelashes of this animal.

On this page, the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is included, as one of its American names is American antelope, which is somewhat misleading, as it is not a true antelope, but forms a separate family, Antilocapridae.

The majority of the information on this page is borrowed from various pages on Wikipedia, and from the IUCN website, iucn.org.

 

 

 

 

Some scientists maintain that, in reality, this animal constitutes two species, the widespread Cape bushbuck, or imbabala (Tragelaphus sylvaticus), and the kéwel (Tragelaphus scriptus), which is restricted to parts of western Africa. Others dispute this theory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species was the last large antelope to be discovered in Africa, described as late as 1910. Major Ivor Buxton, who had been on a hunting trip to Ethiopia, brought a specimen to England in 1908, where it was described by naturalist Richard Lydekker (1849-1915), who gave it the specific name buxtoni in honour of the major.

The mountain nyala is endangered due to competition from large herds of cattle, which is brought into the mountains by human settlers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three subspecies are currently recognized: the Nile, or East African, sitatunga (ssp. spekii), which lives in the Nile watershed, the Congo, or forest, sitatunga (gratus), which is distributed in western and central Africa, and the Zambezi sitatunga (selousi), found in southern Zaire, Zambia, Angola, and northern Botswana.

The rather long coat of the male of the nominate race is brown with a reddish tinge, whereas the male of the Zambezi sitatunga is slate-grey. Females are a beautiful reddish-brown. Both sexes have white markings in the face, and sometimes whitish vertical stripes on their body. Only the male has horns, which are rather short and slightly spiralled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cape greater kudu (ssp. strepsiceros) is restricted to southernmost South Africa.

Zambezi greater kudu (zambeziensis) is found from southern Kenya southwards through eastern Africa to northern South Africa, and thence westwards to southern Angola and Namibia.

Northern greater kudu (chora) is distributed from Eritrea southwards to northern Kenya.

Western greater kudu (cottoni) lives in southern Chad and Sudan, and northern Central African Republic and South Sudan.

Male greater kudus have impressive spiralled horns, and for this reason they have been much persecuted by trophy hunters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Greek tauros (‘bull’) and tragos (‘billy goat’), alluding to its cow-like appearance, and to a tuft of hair in its ear, which resembles a goat’s beard. The specific name is from the Greek orygos (‘pickaxe’), referring to the pointed horns of several African antelopes. The common name eland is Dutch for the moose (Alces alces). It seems that to the Boer, who settled in South Africa in the 1700s, this antelope resembled a moose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scientific name of this antelope is quite peculiar. It is derived from four Greek words, bous (‘cow’), elaphos (‘deer’), tragos (‘goat’), and kamelos (‘camel’). The name was applied by Prussian naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811), to whom this antelope apparently resembled a mixture of these four animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three subspecies have been described, quadricornis, which is distributed in most of the Indian Peninsula, subquadricornutus, which is found in southern India, and iodes, which is restricted to southern Nepal.

In the picture below, a female four-horned antelope, of the nominate subspecies, is drinking from a waterhole together with its young, Sariska National Park, Rajasthan. A northern plains langur (Semnopithecus entellus) is seen to the left. This species, and many other monkeys, are described on the page Animals: Monkeys and apes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly, this gorgeous animal was distributed all over plains and semi-deserts in India and Pakistan, but uncontrolled hunting by British and Indian ‘sportsmen’ (as they were fond of calling themselves), and competition from grazing cattle, goats and sheep, took their toll.

The blackbuck disappeared completely from Pakistan, and from most of India. Larger herds survived only in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, mainly because the animals were protected by the Bishnoi and other local peoples. Traditionally, they protect all wild animals, even allowing them to graze in their fields of wheat and lentils. Thanks to their protection of the blackbuck, biologists have been able to re-introduce the species to many locations in India.

The blackbuck also plays a role in Hindu mythology, where the chariot of the moon god Chandrama is pulled by this animal.

At the outskirts of the town of Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, South India, a huge sculpture, measuring c. 15 by 30 m, has been carved into two boulders. The main theme of this sculpture, which has been dubbed The Descent of the Ganges, is an event in the Hindu epic Mahabharatha. Bhagiratha was a great king, doing penance for a thousand years to obtain the release of his 60,000 great-uncles from the curse of Saint Kapila, eventually leading to the descent of the goddess Ganga to Earth, in the form of River Ganges. However, many other themes have been included in the sculpture, including animals like elephants, cats, and blackbuck.

You may read about my difficulties to photograph blackbuck on the page Travel episodes – India 1979: Hunting blackbuck with camera, and my visit to a Bishnoi family is related on the page Travel episodes – India 1991: Bishnois live in harmony with nature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six subspecies are recognized: Egyptian dorcas gazelle (ssp. dorcas), isabelline dorcas gazelle (Isabella), Moroccan dorcas gazelle (massaesyla), Saharan dorcas gazelle (osiris, including neglecta), Eritrean dorcas gazelle (beccarii), and Pelzeln’s gazelle (pelzelnii), also called Somali dorcas gazelle.

 

 

 

 

 

Six subspecies are recognized, some of which are regarded as full species by some authorities:

Deccan chinkara (ssp. bennettii) is found from the Gangetic Plain southwards to Andhra Pradesh, India.

Gujarat chinkara (christii) is distributed from southern Pakistan to the Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Salt Range gazelle (salinarum) lives in eastern Pakistan and north-western India.

Kennion gazelle (fuscifrons), also called Baluchistan gazelle, occurs in eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan, southern Pakistan, and Rajasthan.

Jebeer gazelle (shikari), also called Shikari gazelle, is found in north-eastern Iran.

Bushehr gazelle (karamii) is restricted to an area near Bushehr, north-eastern Iran.

Populations of this gazelle have been severely reduced by hunting. The Iranian and Pakistani populations are scattered and fragmented, and it may be extinct in Afghanistan. The stronghold of the species is India, with an estimated 100,000 individuals, of which c. 80,000 live in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite being among the fastest mammals on the planet, which is able to run at almost 90 km/h over short distances, it is a favourite prey of the African hunting dog (Lycaon pictus). One such hunt is described on the page Animals: Hunting dogs – nomads of the savanna.

Thomson’s gazelle was described by German-born British naturalist Albert Günther (1830-1914), who named it Gazella thomsoni, honouring Scottish geologist Joseph Thomson (1858-1895) – an excellent explorer, who never caused the killing of any native, or lost any of his men due to confrontations. His motto was “He who goes gently, goes safely; he who goes safely, goes far.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three subspecies are recognized, native to eastern Africa, from Eritrea and South Sudan through Ethiopia to Somalia. It is extinct in Sudan, and is also threatened in its present area of distribution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scientific name is derived from the Greek anti (‘opposite’) and dorkas (‘gazelle’), indicating that this animal is not a true gazelle, and from the Latin marsupium (‘pocket’), alluding to the skin flap. Another difference from the gazelles is that its horns are either straight, or with the tips curving slightly forward, whereas those of the gazelles usually are curving backward in an arch.

The springbok lives in dry areas of south-western Africa, from extreme southern Angola southwards through Namibia and western Botswana to western South Africa. It is the national animal of the latter country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species was described in 1878 by Anglo-Irish naturalist Sir Victor Alexander Brooke (1843-1891). The generic name is from the Greek lithos (‘stone’) and the Latin cranium (‘skull’). Apparently, the gerenuk has a hard skull. The specific name was given in honour of English naturalist Richard Waller (c. 1655-1715), whereas the common name derives from a Somali word, garanuug, meaning ‘giraffe-necked’.

Two subspecies are identified, by some authorities recognized as separate species. Northern gerenuk (ssp. sclateri), also called Sclater’s gazelle, is found from eastern Ethiopia and Djibouti southwards to north-western Somalia, whereas the southern gerenuk (walleri), also called Waller’s gazelle, is distributed from central Somalia southwards to north-eastern Tanzania. Sclater’s gazelle was named for English lawyer and zoologist Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following genera are included in this tribe: Neotragus (suni), Madoqua (dik-diks), Raphicerus (steenbok and grysboks), Oreotragus (klipspringer), Ourebia (oribi), Dorcatragus (beira), and Nesotragus (dwarf antelopes). The latter were previously placed in Neotragus, but have now been transferred to a separate genus.

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘smelling of musk’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species was named by the Boer, in Afrikaans steenbok, meaning ‘stone buck’, possibly referring to the fact that some specimens are almost brick-red. This name was adopted by the English.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is widely distributed, mainly in eastern and southern Africa, from eastern Sudan and Eritrea southwards through East Africa to north-eastern South Africa, and also in western Angola, Namibia, and western South Africa. Small remnant populations exist in western Central African Republic and in Nigeria. It has been observed as high as 4,500 m altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro. About 11 subspecies have been described.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eight subspecies have been described, found in the Sahel zone of central Africa, from Senegal eastwards to Ethiopia, and thence southwards through eastern Africa to north-eastern South Africa, and also in Angola, southern Zaire, and Zambia. It was described as early as 1782 by German zoologist Eberhard von Zimmermann (1743-1815), who wrote one of the first zoogeographical works, Specimen Zoologiae Geographicae Quadrupedum (1777), describing the distribution of mammals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species is distributed across the Sahel zone of central Africa, from Senegal eastwards to Ethiopia, and thence southwards to southern Tanzania. It was first described in 1767 by Prussian naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811). Five subspecies are presently recognized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many subspecies have been described, divided into two main groups. Members of the ellipsiprymnus group have an elliptic white marking on the rump, which gave rise to the specific name, from the Greek ellipes (‘ellipse’) and prymnos (‘rump’). The other group is defassa, whose members have a white patch on the rump. Initially, the latter was described in 1835 by German naturalist Wilhelm Eduard Rüppell (1794-1884) as a separate species, which he named Antilope defassa, from its Amharic name. Today, however, most taxonomists regard the two groups as a single species, as they interbreed, where their ranges overlap.

Subspecies, which belong to ellipsiprymnus, are found from eastern Kenya and Tanzania southwards to north-eastern South Africa, whereas the defassa subspecies occupy the remaining distribution area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These antelope live in marshy areas, feeding on aquatic plants. Their legs are covered in a water-repellant substance, which allows them to run quite fast in water, and thus having a greater chance of escaping from predators.

Red lechwe (subspecies leche) is widely distributed in wetlands of northern Botswana, north-eastern Namibia, and south-western Zambia. A core area is the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

Kafue Flats lechwe (kafuensis) is restricted to a small area in the Kafue Flats, a seasonally inundated flood-plain on the Kafue River, south-western Zambia. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable.

Black lechwe (smithemani) is confined to the Bangweulu Basin, northern Zambia. In former times, hundreds of thousands of these antelopes roamed the grasslands in this area, but their numbers have shrunk drastically due to uncontrolled hunting, and today there may be as few as 30,000. Only the adult male is blackish, whereas females and young are various shades of brown. Following the rainy season, when the water recedes from the flooded areas around the Bangweulu Swamps, fresh grass sprouts, and large numbers of black lechwe frequent these areas to graze.

A fourth subspecies, robertsi, called Roberts’ lechwe or Kawambwa lechwe, is now extinct. It was previously found in north-eastern Zambia.

Other antelopes are also called lechwe. The Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros) lives in swamps and grasslands in South Sudan and northern Ethiopia, and the Upemba lechwe (Kobus anselli) is restricted to the Upemba wetlands in Zaire. It was described as late as 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species is common in much of eastern and southern Africa. Two subspecies are recognized, the nominate, which is distributed from southern Uganda and central Kenya southwards to eastern South Africa and the major part of Namibia, and subspecies petersi, known as black-faced impala, which is restricted to north-western Namibia and south-western Angola. This subspecies can be identified by the black markings on its face.

The generic name is from the Greek aipus (‘high’ or ‘steep’) and keras (‘horn’), referring to the long horns of the male, whereas the specific name is from the Greek melas (‘black’) and pous (‘foot’), alluding to the black spots on its hind feet. The name impala is a corruption of the Tswana word phala, which means ‘red antelope’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The southern sable (ssp. niger), also called black sable, Matsetsi sable, or South Zambian sable, occurs south of the Zambezi River, especially in northern Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The giant sable (variani) was named due to its longer horns. It is restricted to a few locations in central Angola and is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The Zambian sable (kirkii), also known as West Tanzanian sable, occurs north of the Zambezi River, in Zambia, Malawi, south-eastern Zaire, and south-western Tanzania. It is classified as vulnerable.

The eastern sable (roosevelti), also called Shimba sable, is the smallest of the four subspecies. It occurs in a coastal belt from south-eastern Kenya southwards through Tanzania to northern Mozambique.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Greek orygos (‘pickaxe’), referring to the pointed horns of these antelopes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name gemsbok (‘chamois buck’) was applied to this species by the Boer, from the Dutch name of the European chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), alluding to the somewhat similar facial pattern of these animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name hartebeest possibly originates from a former Afrikaans word, hertebeest, meaning deer beast. To the Boer, who named it, it seems that this antelope resembled a mixture of cow and deer. A similar case applies to the specific name buselaphus, which is derived from the Greek bous (‘cow’) and elaphos (‘deer’). The generic name is from Proto-Germanic algiz (‘moose’), and again from the Greek elaphos (‘deer’). Both names were applied by Prussian naturalist Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811), to whom this antelope apparently resembled a mixture of a cow and a moose (Alces alces).

Eight subspecies are recognized:

Northern hartebeest (ssp. buselaphus), also called bubal, is extinct. It formerly occurred across northern Africa, from Morocco to Egypt, but was exterminated in the 1920s.

Previously, the western hartebeest (major) was distributed in much of the Sahel zone in western Africa, but today it is restricted to a few protected areas.

Lelwel hartebeest (lelwel) was formerly found in much of the eastern Sahel zone, from southern Chad eastwards to western Ethiopia and Uganda. It has declined drastically since the 1980s and is now restricted to a few protected areas.

In former days, the Tora hartebeest (tora) occurred in north-western Ethiopia and western Eritrea. Its present status is unclear, and it may be extinct.

Today, Swayne’s hartebeest (swaynei) is restricted to a very small population in the southern Rift Valley in Ethiopia. Formerly, it was distributed eastwards to Somalia, where it was exterminated in the 1930s.

Kongoni (cokii), also called Coke’s hartebeest, is confined to southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. The population is rather stable.

Lichtenstein’s hartebeest (lichtensteinii) inhabits miombo woodlands from western and southern Tanzania southwards to Zambia, with scattered herds in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and eastern South Africa.

Red hartebeest (caama), also known as Cape hartebeest, was once distributed from southern Angola and eastern Namibia through most of Botswana to eastern South Africa. Today, it is confined to Namibia and central and south-western Botswana, but its numbers are on the rise in these countries.

The decline in most hartebeest populations is due to hunting and poaching for the legal as well as the illegal meat market, as its meat is highly praised.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five subspecies are recognized:

The nominate blue wildebeest (ssp. taurinus) is widely distributed in southern Africa, from southern Angola and south-western Zambia southwards to central South Africa and southern Mozambique.

Cookson’s wildebeest (cooksoni) is restricted to the Luangwa Valley, Zambia.

The black-bearded wildebeest (johnstoni), also called Nyasaland wildebeest, occurs from central Tanzania southwards to northern Mozambique. It is extinct in Malawi (formerly called Nyasaland).

The eastern white-bearded wildebeest (albojubatus) lives in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, east of the Rift Valley.

The western white-bearded wildebeest (mearnsi) is found in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, west of the Rift Valley, westwards to Lake Victoria. This subspecies undertakes a spectacular annual migration, where 2 or 3 million wildebeest migrate from the Serengeti Plains northwards to southern Kenya, and later vice versa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latin diminutive form of the Greek word damalis (‘a young cow’), whereas the specific name is from the Latin luna (‘moon’), in this connection meaning crescent-shaped, presumably referring to the shape of the horns.

Five subspecies have been described:

Common tsessebe (ssp. lunatus) is found from extreme southern Zaire southwards through eastern Angola and western Zambia to extreme north-eastern Namibia, northern and south-eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, extreme north-eastern South Africa, and south-western Mozambique.

The Serengeti topi (jimela) has a patchy distribution in Uganda, southern Kenya, and Tanzania. It is common in north-western Tanzania.

The coastal topi (topi) is restricted to a coastal strip in southern Somalia and northern Kenya.

Tiang (tiang) has a patchy distribution in the eastern half of the Sahel zone.

Korrigum (korrigum) is found in two widely separated areas of the western Sahel zone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally, the bontebok was widespread in the Western Cape Province, but was hunted almost to extinction. By the 1930s, only 22 animals survived. Since then, it has been strictly protected in several reserves, both inside and outside its former area of distribution. Today, the population counts between 1600 and 2000 individuals.

The blesbok was distributed over a large area of eastern South Africa, but, like the bontebok, it was almost exterminated due to uncontrolled hunting. Today, it has made a remarkable recovery, and the population is estimated at 120,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Europeans arrived in America, this species was unbelievably abundant in the West. However, uncontrolled hunting caused this iconic animal to have been almost eradicated by around 1900. Following conservation efforts in later years, it is now common again many places in the West. Today, larger or smaller herds are distributed across the western half of North America, from extreme southern Canada southwards to northern Mexico.