|
|
Bate's Dwarf Antelope
Order: Artiodactyla, Family: Bovidae
The Bate's dwarf antelope occurs throughout the lowland forest zone from southeastern Nigeria to western Uganda.
I. GEOGRAPHIC RANGE
- The Bate's dwarf antelope occurs throughout the lowland forest zone from southeastern Nigeria to western Uganda.
II. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
- Mass: 2 to 3 kg.
- Bate's dwarf antelopes are very small antelopes. Body length ranges between 500 and 575 mm, with a tail length of 45 to 50 mm. Males are only slightly larger, on average, than females.
- Dwarf antelope males possess horns that extend back over their head on the same plane as the face. These horns are usually brown or fawn in color and are about 38 to 50 mm long.
- The coat is a shiny dark chestnut on the back, becoming lighter toward the flanks.
III. FOOD HABITS
- The Bate's dwarf antelope's diet consists of leaves, buds, shoots, fungus and limited amounts of grasses and herbs.
- They also eat human food crops — such as peanuts — in areas where humans have intruded into their natural habitats. They are often caught in snares surrounding agricultural fields.
IV. REPRODUCTION
- Mating occurs throughout the year with peaks in the late dry and early wet seasons.
- The gestation period of the Bate's dwarf antelope is thought to be 180 days. One young is born per gestation with a birth weight of between 1.6 and 2.4 kg.
V. BEHAVIOR
- Bate's dwarf antelopes have a typical home range of 2 to 4 hectares. Males are territorial, marking their territory with scent that is produced in the pre-orbital glands. Females are not as territorial as the males and are sometimes found in small groups.
- Males emit a nasal call when seeking females and both sexes often make a short, raspy bark when fleeing.
VI. HABITAT
- The Bate's dwarf antelope is most often found in moist forest and brush.
VII. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE FOR HUMANS
Positive
The meat of the Bate's dwarf antelope is edible, although quite dry. They are not often hunted for meat but, in some cases, farmers will kill and eat limited numbers.
Negative
Bate's dwarf antelopes are known to eat crops such as peanuts. The overall economic damage from this is minimal.
VIII. CONSERVATION
- The biggest current threat to the Bate's dwarf antelope is human expansion. The loss of habitat due to clearing for farmland could have a very negative effect on their populations in the future.
Related Content
 Order: Artiodactyla, Family: Bovidae The Tibetan antelope, or Chiru, is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. It is found between Ngoring Hu in China and the Ladakh region in India. Its range once extended to western Nepal, but none have been seen in Nepal for several years.
|
 The edmi, also known as the mountain gazelle, lives in mixed-sex herds of up to forty individuals.
They roam their arid habitat eating almost anything green.
In mid-winter, the males establish territories that they defend from rivals.
The male is generally larger than the female and has S-shaped horns more than twice as big.
Like all gazelles, the edmi is a slender, graceful animal with ...
|
 Red hartebeest vary in color from rich reddish brown to yellowish fawn, with a darker saddle from the shoulders to the base of the tail, broadening out over the rump.
The top of its muzzle and forehead are black, and it has a black stripe on the front of its shoulders that continues down onto its forelegs, and black high on its hind legs (Liechtenstein's hartebeest lacks these markings.). ...
|
 Thomson's gazelles are mainly grazers, feeding on grasses, herbs, and leaves of plants in the open plains. Their herds, which are composed of a dominant male, females, and their young, contain anywhere from five to fifty individuals.
The dominant male marks off his territory with urine and feces and regularly patrols its perimeter to keep his herd together. When he meets another male, they...
|
 Herds of ten to forty gemsbock are not uncommon and groups of up to a hundred have been recorded.
These animals are frequently found in association with other species of gazelles and sometimes zebras, foraging for grasses and leaves.
Gemsbock can go many days without water, but in the more arid parts of their range, they sometimes dig a trough in a dried-out river bed to reach the water tabl...
|
 Order: Artiodactyla, Family: Bovidae Ethiopian: Throughout central Africa, from south of the Sahara to north of the Kalahari deserts.
|
|
Add Feedback