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Klipspringer

Scientific name: Oreotragus oreotragus
Common name: Klipspringer
Afrikaans: Klipspringer
Setswana: Phitlwa

Description

A small antelope with a brown forehead, short ears marked with black, prominent preorbital glands near the eyes, and white lips and chin. The horns, short and spiky, are present only in males. The colour varies with locality, the coat of the klipspringer, yellowish-grey to reddish brown, acts as an efficient camouflage in its rocky habitat; the underbelly is white. In northern South Africa they are yellow sprinkled with black and in the South they are yellow sprinkled with brown. The hairs of the coat are short flattened, springy and harsh saving the animal during steep falls and providing effective insulation in the extreme climate characteristic of its mountain habitat. The body is stocky, the legs short with small hooves, which have rubbery centres and hard rims to provide grip on rocks. The tail is very short and only males have horns rising from above the eyes, short with a slight forward curve.

Habitat

They are confined to rocky areas, which makes the distribution patchy.

Diet

Klipspringers are herbivores, strict browsers, taking leaves, fruits and flowers of a wide range of trees, bushes and forbs depending on availability. They also chew bones and eat soil to obtain minerals.

Behaviour

They are mainly active at night and tend to be more active on moonlit nights. In the morning, they bask in warm sunlight during the midday and rest late at night. They shelter from both heat and cold by lying among the rocks or in clumps of bushes. Klipspringers are solitary animals, they live in monogamous pairs of females, male and young one of a year. They are territorial and will remain in the same territory for life if not disturbed by a lack of food that forces them to move. Males advertised occupation of territory by standing prominently on rocks for long periods, probably also watching for predators. Territories are marked with large dung middens and by small blobs of sticky, black preorbital gland secretion with a sharp tarry smell on twigs and stiff grass stems. Both sexes mark territory, males more than females by horning bushes.

Conservation status

Klipspringers do not face major threats at present because their habitat is inaccessible and unfavourable for hunting. They are more vulnerable to elimination as they are hunted for their meat, leather, and hair.

References