SANParks.org Forums

Cape Grysbok
(Raphicerus melanotis)

Mass: 10 kg.
Shoulder Height: 54 cm.
Tail length: 6 cm.
ID Pointers:
- Small.
- Rufous-brown upperparts.
- White flecking.
Main Predators:
1. Leopard
2. Caracal
3. Lion
4. Eagles
5. Honey Badger
6. Bat Eared Fox
7. Cape Fox
Horns: Only rams have horns which are short & smooth.
Length: 8-13 cm.

HABITAT:
Thick scrub-bush, mostly fynbos, scrub-covered sand dunes, wooded gorges, mountain slopes, along rivers, scrub covered hillsides & fringes of agricultural land.

BEHAVIOUR:
Mostly nocturnal. Mostly solitary. Rams are territorial, with non-overlapping ranges of 0,01-0,09 km2. Female territories overlap. Mark territories by large dung heaps, gland secretions on twigs & grass.

FOOD:
Mostly browsers.

REPRODUCTION:
A single lamb is born during birth peaks in summer and spring after a gestation of 6 months.

Source used:
- Field Guide to the larger mammals of Africa by Chris & Tilde Swart.

Found in the following SANParks:
- Addo Elephant National Park.
- Wilderness National Park.
- Aghulas National Park.
- Bontebok National Park.
- Table Mountain National Park.
- West Coast National Park.
- Knysna National Park.

The Cape Grysbok is very common around the area south and west of Grahamstown on farms but I have only seen 1 at Addo ....a few years ago at the bird hide when it was new. They loo very similar to the Sharpe's Grysbok in Kruger.

I've only seen the Sharpe's...
Does anyone have a photo?

On my guided bush walks, they are quite common, they are known to feed on human urine & poo. However they are very shy & skitish & difficult to photograph, the population on our bush walk area flounders between 2 & 5...

Awww... No photo's?

Someones got to have...Since they're so common...

Since no one else has posted a photo of the Cape grysbok, here's the one — my first! — that I saw on Darling Hills Road in October 2010. I saw it only at the most for a few seconds as it crossed the road and disappeared into the bush and my photo was shot through the windscreen, hence the poor quality.