24.10.2019
Greater kudu: the life of a markhorn antelope. Greater Kudu, Kudu Antelope Kudu Antelope Diet
The African continent supports the rich wildlife through its deserts, savannas, vast valleys and forests. Africa is home to the largest land animal ( African elephant) and the tallest animal (giraffe) in the world. But there are many other interesting African animals that you need to know about. For example, Top 10 amazing animals found only in Africa.
Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)
photo Harvey Barrison flickr.com
Interesting facts about big kudu
Greater Kudu is an amazing antelope that is native to Eastern and South Africa. It lives in savanna forests and rocky slopes.
This is one of the longest antelope in the world. Spectacularly twisted horns are found only in male kudu. Their horns can be up to 1 meter long with 2 and 1/2 twists. Males use their long horns for protection from predators.
Males have a body length of 2 to 2.5 meters and weigh up to 315 kg. Females are smaller than males. Their length is 1.85-2.3 meters, and their weight is up to 215 kg.
Greater kudu have a brownish gray coat with 5-12 vertical white stripes. They also have a distinctive white stripe between the eyes.
These antelopes are social animals. Females form groups that contain up to 25 individuals. Males join groups only during the mating season.
This larger species of antelope primarily feeds on leaves, herbs, fruits, and flowers. In the wild, great kudu live up to 7 years, and in captivity, they can live over 20 years.
Ostrich (Struthio camelus)
Interesting facts about ostriches
Non-flying ostriches are the largest birds in the world. They have a length of 2 to 2.7 m and weigh up to 160 kg. Ostriches are found in the savannas and desert lands of Central and South Africa.
Ostriches are also known as "camelbirds" because they can withstand high temperature and live for a long time without water.
The soft and smooth feather of adult male ostriches is black, and their tail is white. In contrast, females have gray-brown feathers. The neck of ostriches is long and naked.
With powerful long legs ostriches can reach top speed 69 kilometers per hour. Each leg of an ostrich has very sharp claws. Their legs are powerful enough to kill a human with a single blow. Ostriches use their legs as their main weapon to defend themselves against potential predators such as lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas.
Ostriches live in small herds that contain 10-12 individuals. 15 cm long is the size of the largest eggs in the world that ostriches lay. These huge birds are omnivores and they feed on leaves, roots, seeds, lizards, insects and snakes. Ostriches also swallow pebbles and small stones to grind food in their stomachs.
Okapi (Okapia johnstoni)
Interesting Okapi Facts
- the only remaining relative of the giraffe in the world. They are found only in tropical forests Republic of the Congo. The most noticeable feature of the okapi is the striped markings that make them look like zebras.
The okapi is one of the most endangered. Habitat loss and hunting are the main threats to this amazing species.
Okapi can reach 2.5 meters in length and weigh from 180 to 310 kg. As a member of the giraffe family, the okapi also has a relatively long neck. The coat color is reddish brown with zebra-like stripes on the hind and forelegs. This helps the okapi to hide easily in dense forests. The animal also has a very long tongue, which can reach a length of up to 45 cm.
Okapis often travel 1.2-4 km a day in search of food. Their long tongue helps them easily reach leaves and buds from tall plants.
Galago ( Galago)
Interesting Galago Facts
- a small primate that has a length of 15 to 20 cm and a weight of up to 300 grams. They live in the bush and forests of East Africa.
The thick fur of the galago has brown or grey colour. They have very large ears, which give them an excellent sense of hearing. This nocturnal creature also has excellent night vision and large eyes.
Galagos are excellent jumpers as they have very strong hind legs. With one jump, the animal can reach a height of 2.25 meters.
Unlike other primates, galagos have an additional language that is hidden under the main language.
These nocturnal animals spend most of their time in the trees. Elastic joints on the legs allow them to easily move between branches. They mainly feed on bark, fruits, and insects.
Kitoglav (Balaeniceps rex)
Interesting facts about the shoebill
One of the strangest birds in the world is this. The bird has a huge beak that can grow up to 22 cm. This amazing bird can only be found in the swamps of East Africa.
Shoe heads are one of the species that may become endangered in the near future. Habitat loss and hunting are the main threat to them.
Large shoe heads can reach 120 cm in length and weigh from 4 to 6 kg. They have bluish-gray plumage and broad wings.
Shoeheads are predators that attack from ambush, which means that they remain motionless until the prey gets close enough to them. Then they make a surprise attack using their powerful beak. The bird's diet consists of lizards, turtles, water snakes and rats.
The shoebill is also one of the loneliest birds in the world. After all, they get together only during the mating season.
Eastern colobus (Colobus guereza)
photo Martin Grimm flickr.com
Interesting facts about the eastern colobus
Eastern colobus is one of the most attractive African monkeys. She has bright glossy, black and white fur and an impressive a long tail. It lives in deciduous and evergreen forests of West and Central Africa.
This great view monkeys, their length is 53.8-71 cm, and their weight is up to 13.5 kg. Eastern colobus live in large groups that contain 3-15 monkeys.
These monkeys are active during the day but spend most of their time in the trees. They also take time during the day to look for food sources. Colobus use different kinds of sounds and signals to communicate with each other.
This monkey's multi-chambered stomach has specialized bacteria that help it digest. a large number of food. The diet of the eastern colobus consists mainly of leaves, seeds, fruits, and arthropods.
- Eastern Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum )
photo James Ball flickr.com
Interesting Facts About the Oriental Crowned Crane
With a height of 1 meter and a weight of more than 4 kg, the eastern crowned crane - big bird living in the savannas, rivers and swamps of East and South Africa.
most feature This amazing African bird is its crest of golden feathers. The entire plumage of the bird is mostly grey, with a pale gray neck and black and white wings. They also have an attractive bright red pouch under their bill.
During the mating season, the males of these cranes perform interesting courtship rituals for females. They dance, jump and make amazing sounds.
The nest of the Eastern Crowned Crane contains from 2 to 5 eggs, and this is the largest average number of eggs among all members of the family.
The Eastern Crowned Crane is an omnivorous bird feeding on insects, lizards, grasses, seeds, fish, and amphibians.
Wildebeest (Connochaetes)
Interesting Wildebeest Facts
Looking like a bull at first glance, wildebeest actually belong to the antelope family. There are two different types these antelopes are the black wildebeest and the blue wildebeest. Both species are found only in Africa. They live in open forests and green plains.
Wildebeest can reach 2.5 m in length and weigh up to 275 kg. Both male and female wildebeest have horns. These animals live in large herds.
Between May and June, when food sources become scarce, the wildebeest migrate north. The migratory group consists of 1.2-1.5 million individuals. They are also accompanied by thousands of zebras and gazelles. This is the most big migration land mammals on the ground.
Wildebeest are able to walk more than 50 km in one day. During migration, antelopes cover a distance of about 1000-1600 km.
Most wildebeest feed on short grass. Lions, cheetahs, hyenas and wild dogs are their main enemies.
Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx)
Interesting Mandaril Facts
Mandrill is the largest monkey species in the world. They have a body length of 60 to 90 cm, and weigh up to 38 kg. Mandrills live in tropical forests and subtropical forests West and Central Africa.
They are certainly among the most colorful monkeys in the world. They have attractive dense, olive-green fur and gray underparts. The mandrill's cute long nose has a red stripe. Males are larger and more colorful than females.
Mandrills are extremely social animals and they live in large groups of up to 200 individuals.
In addition to color and size, these monkeys have long fangs that grow up to 63.5 cm. They use their huge fangs to threaten predators.
Mandrills are active in daytime. They have cheek pouches to store the food they collect. They are omnivorous and feed on fruits, seeds, insects, eggs, and worms.
Lemurs (Lemuriformes)
Interesting facts about lemurs
Lemurs are amazing primates that are found only on, on east coast South Africa. In total, there are 30 different species of lemurs, all of which are endemic to Madagascar.
Madame Berthe's lemur (Microcebus berthae), which weighs only 30 g, is the smallest primate in the world, and indri (Indri indri) is the largest living lemur weighing up to 9.5 kg.
Most lemurs are arboreal, which means they spend most of their time in tree dwellings. The tail of most lemur species is also longer than their body.
Lemurs are social animals that live in groups. They use high-pitched sounds and scent marking to communicate with each other. They have an excellent sense of hearing and smell.
Lemurs are also called one of the most intelligent animals in the world. They are known for using tools and having the ability to learn patterns.
- the only one natural predator lemurs. The diet of lemurs consists of fruits, nuts, leaves and flowers.
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Kudu Antelope (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), or big kudu, got its name from the natives of Africa - the Hottentots. In their speech, they used this name only for this species of forest antelopes, but colonists from the New World christened the smaller species of the bovid family with this term.
The greater kudu can be considered one of the largest antelopes. The height of the animal at the withers reaches almost one and a half meters, the body length is 2.2 meters. Males weigh an average of 250 kg, the female weighs about a third less - about 170 kg. The color of the coat in males is gray-brown, in females and young animals it is light brown. In both, the head is colored somewhat darker than the body, and on the sides there are from 6 to 10 vertical stripes of a light color.
male head kudu antelope crowned with two huge, one meter long, horns twisted into a spiral of 2.5 turns. They begin to grow in young individuals in the region of 6-12 months of age, at the age of 2 years they curl into the first coil, and are fully formed only at the age of 6.
In addition, they are distinguished from females by long strands of hair on the throat.
The kudu antelope is widespread in East and South Africa, and inhabits areas where dense shrubs and constant sources of water are present. They try to avoid open plains.
There are no large concentrations of these herbivores. Large kudu live in small groups of 6-20 individuals, consisting of females and their offspring. different ages. Males usually live alone, occasionally gathering in small groups. Kudu antelopes are active in the early morning and late evening, when they go out to feed and drink, and during the day they hide from the heat in the shade of bushes.
Basically, these animals lead a sedentary lifestyle, but in the absence of water they can migrate over long distances.
The main component in the diet of large kudu are leaves and young shoots of shrubs, less often they eat grass and even fruits, in particular oranges and tangerines.
In view of their rather large size, only large predators- lions, leopards and hyena-like dogs. From their enemies to where open area cannot run away - the speed of its run is less than the speed of predators. Therefore, when threatened, the animals rush into the bushes, easily jumping over obstacles 2.5 meters high, where the pursuers cannot run quickly.
During the mating season, which takes place at the end of the rainy season, the male kudu join the females. Conflicts constantly flare up between males - they butt each other, revealing the strongest. Sometimes these fights end sadly - having grappled with spiral horns, the males cannot free themselves from each other, and die.
Before mating, the males court the female, standing sideways to them and lifting their heads high. If the chosen one did not like something, she can bite or kick her partner in protest. Otherwise, the female large kudu runs away, and the boyfriend catches up with her and tries to stop her, after which mating occurs.
After 8 months, in February-March, at the very height of the rainy season, one, rarely two, calves are born. For the first two weeks of his life, he hides in the thickets, and his mother visits him to feed him.
Among all the antelopes living on the African continent, large kudu (lat. Tragelaphus strepsiceros) have the brightest and most memorable appearance. These tall and majestic animals grow up to one and a half meters at the shoulders and can weigh more than three hundred kilograms, thus being one of the largest antelopes in the world.
Their native home- Eastern and central regions Africa. Here, depending on the season, they inhabit shrub-covered plains, savannahs, forests, and occasionally desert hillsides, and in the dry season they gather along river banks. When choosing places to live and search for food, large kudu prefer bushes that hide them from hyenas, leopards and lions.
The grey-brown coat of the great kudu is adorned with bright white stripes on the sides, white cheek markings, and diagonal stripes between the eyes, called chevrons. The coat of males is dark, with a gray tint, while females and cubs are colored in beige tones- this makes them more invisible among the savannah vegetation.
The main advantage of large kudu males is large helical horns. Unlike deer, kudu do not shed their antlers and live with them all their lives. The horns of an adult male are twisted in two and a half turns and grow strictly according to a certain schedule: appearing in the first year of a male's life, by the age of two they make one full turn, and take their final shape no earlier than the age of six. If the horn of a large kudu is stretched out in one straight line, then its length will be a little less than two meters.
Massive horns - reliable way protection from predators and the main argument in mating season when males fight for the attention of females. However, excessive boasting can sometimes have disastrous consequences - having caught too tightly with horns, males are no longer able to free themselves, and this leads to the death of both animals. In all other cases, they do not interfere with the life of the kudu, and it easily maneuvers even between closely growing trees, raising its chin and pressing its horns to its head.
Large kudu males live separately, joining females only during the mating season. Females with cubs unite in small groups, from three to ten individuals, trying to spend more time among bushes or in tall grass. Their protective coloring perfectly copes with its role - only a very trained and sharp-sighted eye can see standing motionless antelopes.
A disturbed kudu first freezes in place, moving its huge sensitive ears, and then abruptly rushes to the side. At the same time, he makes a barking sound (the loudest among all antelopes), warning the rest of the danger.
A rapidly spinning white tail is also an alarm. Despite their powerful physique, large kudu are excellent jumpers, able to overcome obstacles up to three meters high. Hiding from the pursuer and running a short distance, kudu stops to assess the situation. Very often this habit becomes a fatal mistake for him.
Since ancient times, the magnificent horns of the great kudu have been considered a prestigious trophy for hunters from all over the world who come to Africa to compete in agility with these elusive antelopes.
Among all the antelopes living on the African continent, large kudu (lat. Tragelaphus strepsiceros) have the brightest and most memorable appearance. These tall and majestic animals grow up to one and a half meters at the shoulders and can weigh more than three hundred kilograms, thus being one of the largest antelopes in the world.
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The grey-brown coat of the great kudu is adorned with bright white stripes on the sides, white cheek markings, and diagonal stripes between the eyes, called chevrons. The coat of males is dark, with a gray tint, while females and cubs are painted in beige tones - this makes them more invisible among the savannah vegetation.
The main advantage of large kudu males is large helical horns. Unlike deer, kudu do not shed their antlers and live with them all their lives. The horns of an adult male are twisted in two and a half turns and grow strictly according to a certain schedule: appearing in the first year of a male's life, by the age of two they make one full turn, and take their final shape no earlier than the age of six. If the horn of a large kudu is stretched out in one straight line, then its length will be a little less than two meters.
Massive horns are a reliable way to protect against predators and the main argument during the mating season, when males fight for the attention of females. However, excessive boasting can sometimes have disastrous consequences - having caught too tightly with horns, males are no longer able to free themselves, and this leads to the death of both animals. In all other cases, they do not interfere with the life of the kudu, and it easily maneuvers even between closely growing trees, raising its chin and pressing its horns to its head.
Large kudu males live separately, joining females only during the mating season. Females with cubs unite in small groups, from three to ten individuals, trying to spend more time among bushes or in tall grass. Their protective coloring perfectly copes with its role - only a very trained and sharp-sighted eye can see standing motionless antelopes.
A disturbed kudu first freezes in place, moving its huge sensitive ears, and then abruptly rushes to the side. At the same time, he makes a barking sound (the loudest among all antelopes), warning the rest of the danger.
A rapidly spinning white tail is also an alarm. Despite their powerful physique, large kudu are excellent jumpers, able to overcome obstacles up to three meters high. Hiding from the pursuer and running a short distance, kudu stops to assess the situation. Very often this habit becomes a fatal mistake for him.
Since ancient times, the magnificent horns of the great kudu have been considered a prestigious trophy for hunters from all over the world who come to Africa to compete in agility with these elusive antelopes.
big kudu(lat. Tragelaphus strepsiceros) is a representative of the genus of forest antelopes of the bovine subfamily of the bovid family, living in eastern and southern Africa. Despite their large area, they are small in most areas due to habitat loss and poaching. Greater kudu is one of two widely known species kudu, the second kind is lesser kudu.
Description. Large kudu have a narrow body with long legs, and their coloration can vary from brown to reddish brown. They have 4 to 12 vertical white stripes on the sides. The head is usually darker than the rest of the body and has a small White spot which is located between the eyes.
Greater kudu males tend to be much larger than females. Males are also distinguished by large manes along the neck, and large horns with two and a half turns, which reach a length of about 120 cm. They diverge slightly from each other and slope back. The antlers start growing at 6 to 12 months of age, having one branch at two years of age, and two and a half turns are achieved by six years of age.
Greater kudu is one of the most large species antelopes. Males weigh from 190 to 270 kg, height at the withers reaches up to 160 cm. Females weigh from 120 to 210 kg, height at the withers is about 100 cm. The length of the body together with the head varies from 180 to 250 cm, the length of the tail is from 30 to 55 cm. The ears are large and round.
Spreading. The territory of residence of large kudu extends from the east to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Eritrea and Kenya, further south to Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. They have also been introduced in small numbers into New Mexico but have not been released into the wild. Their habitat is an area full of shrubs, rocky slopes, dry riverbeds, and most importantly, there must be a source of water. They can be found on the plains bordering the territory abounding with shrubs, but these are rather rare cases.
Behavior and nutrition. During the day, the activity of large kudu decreases, they prefer to hide from the heat in the thickets. Activity, large kudu show at dawn and closer to sunset. At this time, they go to the watering hole and in search of places abounding in food. Their diet includes leaves, grass, shoots, and sometimes tubers, roots, and fruits. Although large kudu prefer to live in one area, nevertheless, during periods of drought, they can migrate over long distances to more favorable areas for living.
The main enemies of the big kudu are such predators as lions, leopards, hyenas and hyena-like dogs. Although cheetahs also prey on large kudu, they still cannot cope with mature males, so they prey on more vulnerable females and young. When a herd is threatened by predators, adults (usually females) make a danger call to alert the rest of the herd.
Social behavior and reproduction. Greater kudu females live in small herds of 6 to 20 individuals along with their calves. Males, as a rule, lead a solitary lifestyle, sometimes forming small herds of 4-8 individuals. The territory on which the herd lives varies from 3 to 6 square meters. km, passing about half of the territory per day during feeding.
Larger kudu reach sexual maturity between 1 and 3 years of age. The mating season takes place at the end of the rainy season, which can vary by region and climate. Before mating, large kudu undergo a courtship ritual. Pregnancy lasts about 240 days. Calving usually falls in February-March, when there is an abundance of young grass.
Large kudu usually have one calf, although sometimes there may be two. At first, the calf will wait for the mother to feed him, but later he becomes more insistent and will demand milk himself. For the first two weeks, the calf will be in a secluded area where it will be difficult for predators to find them. After that, until the age of 4-5 weeks, it becomes hard to stay with the herd only during the day. Males become independent at the age of 6 months, and females at the age of 1-2 years.
