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I saw this somewhere near Letabe in April.

It was overcast and it was in thick bush so the photo is not to sharp.

It looks like one to me. Here's a pic of the one I saw near Mopani so you can compare :

Hi Chameleon,
Yes, it is indeed a Sharpes Grysbok. The silver flecks and slighty shaggy coat, distinguish it from a steenbok. A lucky sighting indeed!

No doubt about it.

I was lucky enought to see one on the snad road between Olifants and Letaba, in similar habitat to the one in your photo. Hidden in bushy terrain. If I remember correctly, it was on a hill. I remember it being closer to Olifants though. If you saw it on that road too,(Ive forgotten the name of the road...too lazy to check the map ) the sand road that follows the Letaba River between Letaba and Olifants, then that road is probably a "hotspot" for this rare species, as is the Redrocks route.

So, any forumites going to be there soon?? Try the road and let us know if you spot one too.

We saw quite a few Sharpes Grysbok in May. I'll have to refer to my sightings book to say exactly where we saw them as I didn't get many photos, but this one was on the Mahonie Loop near Punda (Blast those bushes - perhaps DuQues can give some tips on how to Photoshop this one!)

Just found another one - this was on the H1-4 south of Olifants (can't remember exactly where although on my photo's it's just after N'wamanzi viewpoint)



Isn't it funny how you can see so much of something you've never seen before? Probably won't see any next visit!

Never realised just how small they were. They can't be more than 40-50cm in height. This is the one we think we saw behind Shingwedzi. My first thought was Duiker, but the colouring was wrong for a Duiker and the face looked different. After deliberations with a camping neighbour we settled on Sharpe's Grysbok.

Something we learnt about duiker, steenbok and sharpe's. They are extremely quick to run away when they spot you. Don't assume you've missed them. Watch where they go - that's the kid's job. They have a curious habit of stopping dead in their tracks a couple of feet into the bushes they disappeared into. That's how we got them on cam for the first time.

I've got three of them on my checklist. I saw the first one (1987) on the S47 - along the Letaba River towards Mingerhout Dam. It was just a quick glimpse.

The second one was two years later - on the S92 between Olifants and Balule. It was lying down and made no attempt to move.

My third sighting (and also my best) was in 2003 on the S56 (between Shingwedzi and Babalala). I have some very good video footage of this one.

Very little is still known about its habits, diet and social structure. They are known to be more nocturnal.

On our recent trip, we saw plenty of them. 2 close to Nkumbe lookout, 1 at the Riverview near Orpen, a couple on the dirt road from Olifants to Letaba and loads of them up north. On the sunset drive at Punda, on the Mahonie loop, we saw 20+. They are so tiny and cute, I just love the patterns in the ears!

I saw one just sitting in the wet grass after a rainy night near Numbi Gate

I have seen Sharpe’s grysbok on the s44 gravel road between Olifants and Letaba in June of this year. It was a solitary male. Also spotted a male on a night drive on the Mahonie loop earlier.
It is a very secretive animal and sometimes difficult to distinguish from a steenbok from distance.
I think this forum gives excellent information for anyone wishing to catch a glimpse of this animal as many of the previous posts’ sightings coincide with my sightings; It seems that the Mahonie Loop area and the section between Letaba and Olifants offers the best opportunity to spot this animal.

Yes they are common on the Kannidooddam road in country so typical of the pic