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SITATUNGA - Tragelaphus spekei |
SIZE: Shoulder height (m) 0,9 m, (f) 0,8 m; mass
(m) 115 kg, (f) 80 kg.
COLOUR: Long-haired, rather shaggy, dark brown or
brownish-grey coat, more reddish in the female. White
markings include patches on throat, spots on the cheeks,
and a chevron between the eyes. Tail dark brown above,
white below and has a dark tuft at the tip.
MOST LIKE: The Bushbuck, but larger, with shaggier
coat and less distinctive white markings.
HABITAT: Reed or papyrus swamps; islands in lakes
or rivers.
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They are very difficult to observe as they are normally
obscured by reeds. Ever alert to the presence of their natural
enemies, leopards and lions, sitatunga will walk silently
through the water, placing their feet delicately and carefully
in the mud of a reed bed. Surprised, they will splash through
the reeds in great bounds, leap into deeper water, and swim
away with only their heads above the water. Flooding sometimes
forces sitatunga from the swamps onto higher ground where
they move about somewhat clumsily on the hard surface.
Although they do venture out onto nearby plains, these
antelope invariably stay close to their reed beds, leaving
a conspicuous V-shaped spoor on the soft ground. Sitatunga
usually move about in herds of up to six animals, feeding
mainly on papyrus and aquatic grasses. Single calves, usually
born in mid-winter (June/July), may instinctively move to
higher ground after birth. They are very uneasy on their
feet, and if they make any attempt at escaping from predators,
it is by diving into the water.
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DISTRIBUTION
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Sitatunga, renowned for their elongated, pointed
hooves, which can be up to 18 cm long on the forefeet, are semi-aquatic,
and are more adapted to the aquatic environment than any of
the other antelope in the southern African subregion: even the
lechwe. Their Afrikaans name, waterkoedoe, is particularly descriptive,
as, with their vertical white stripes, they do bear a resemblance
to the kudu: the reference to water is self-explanatory.
Sitatunga are powerful swimmers and range easily over soft,
swampy surfaces. They are masters of the art of camouflage and
sometimes, when they have been wounded by a predator or hunter,
will lie up in a dense reed bed, submerging themselves in the
water with just their nostrils showing. |
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WILDLIFE
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RESERVES
WHERE
THIS SPECIES
IS FOUND: |
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