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Smallest waterbuck calf I have seen was @ Orpen dam in '95. Only saw it briefly as it and it's mother came down to have a drink. A huge croc was patrolling the drinking area. We all waited for action.

Next minute a leopard jumped out of a bush and grabbed the calf by the throat. That was it! Good night nurse.

Was a tad sad though to hear the mother call for the calf as the dappled one dragged it off.

Near the S52

Seen this February having a bit of a spat.



Taken from Kanniedood birdhide.

Richard
http://www.pbase.com/richardharris/february_2007&page=1

more photos / larger versions here

Yikes, and those horns look like they could do a fair bit of damage to the 2 combatants.

I once heard that Waterbucks have very unpleasant & strong tasting flesh. Therefore predators tend to avoid preying on them if other prey species are avaliable . Any truth to this ?

a beautiful meeting at sunset ,on our way back to Olifant restcamp ....

Read a very interesting story in a wildlife mag recently -
It goes something like this -

Wildogs attack waterbuck cows
Waterbuck calf runs into the water and heads for an island with a sleeping hippo on it
Waterbuck bull attacks wildogs
Hippo wakes up and chases waterbuck calf off island
Waterbuck calf heads back to shore but panics and goes back to island
Hippo goes crazy and chases calf off island
Hippo follows calf into water and bites it in half! ( well almost in half )

Common Waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus

Mass: M: 160 - 260kg. F: 150 - 200kg
Life-Span: 12 - 15 years
Predators: Main predators are hyaena, lion and crocodile.

Description
The coat is coarse and shaggy. The underside and ring encircling the rump are white. No scent glands are present.

Behaviour
Dirunal and nocturnal, becoming more nocturnal in disturbed areas. Female territories may overlap bull territories. At 8-12 months of age, young males will join bachelor herds.

Reproduction
Breed all year. A single calf is born after a gestation period of 8 months weighing 13kg. It can walk within 30 minutes. At 8-9 months, males begin to develop their horns.

Diet
Mainly grazers, eating a viriety of grasses and reeds. Require water daily.

In this little video you see a fight between two male Waterbuck on the S92 between Balule and Olifants camp.

Saw this guy on 23rd April on the Gudzani road (S41).

He is very light -- his ring barely shows. Is he melanistic ?
Anyone else seen him ?

That is a very interesting looking waterbuck I wonder if he wasnt full of ash or maybe it was caused by the sunlight at that time. Did you watch him for a long time p@m?

I love watching them, I find the bulls very graceful and proud.

dunno bout white elephants but i think a few people on this forum have seen pink ones! (no IM NOT going off topic! )

saw this beautiful boy near Tamboti.. what i didnt see was the female lioness he was eyeing out in the riverbed.. my sister thankfully spotted her and thankfully i wasn't protruding..

In this little video, you can see the Macho behaviour of two males waterbuck that are impressing a female waterbuck.

Video: