Antidorcas marsupialis
Afrikaans/French/Spanish : Springbok
German : Springbock
These beautiful and graceful antelope are inhabitants of the more arid western parts of the country. In early days they roamed free in their millions, covering the landscape as they migrated from place to place.
The hindquarters of this distinctive antelope appear to be slightly higher than shoulders. A dark red brown band along flanks separates fawn brown upper parts from white under parts. The head is white with a brown stripe running through eye to corner of upper lip.
Springbok have a pocket-like flap of skin lined with white hair that extends from the middle of their back to their rump. When excited or frightened, this flap turns inside out, revealing a highly visible crest of erect white hairs along a springbok’s back. This display acts as a warning system to other springboks in the herd. The Latin name Marsupialis comes from the presence of the pocket-like skin flap.
This crest is erected during pronking. When pronking, a springbok can leap up to 13 feet (4 m) in the air, with its body curved and legs stiff, close together and pointing downwards. As it returns to the ground, it effortlessly leaps upward again. Pronking occurs during play, and probably serves to notify potential predators that they have been detected.
Their activity is seasonally variable, they rest more in day preferably in shade, and feed more by night in hot, dry weather. Springbok roam in herds of up to 100 in the dry months and several hundreds in the rainy season, and they are very vocal at certain times of year.. They often associate loosely with other game species, such as wildebeest, blesbok and ostriches.
Adult length: 48-56 inches (120-142cm)
Adult shoulder height: 29-35 inches (74-89 cm)
Weight : Approximately 66-106 pounds (30-48 kg)
Gender differences:
Both male and female springbok have curved black, ringed horns. Males can have horns up to 19 inches (48 cm) in length; females have shorter, thinner horns.
Habitat:
Dry grassland, other semi-arid regions where ample karoo type vegetation exists for feeding. Springbok tolerate conditions ranging from desert to well watered savannah, but avoid dense vegetation, mountains and sand dunes. They are found in the eastern parts of the Republic of South Africa, northward through Namibia, Botswana and Angola.
Diet:
Springbok are both browsers and grazers. They feed on young, tender grasses or low shrubs, and other succulents and dig out roots and bulbs. Springbok drink water when available, but during times of drought seek out flowers, which have a greater capacity for holding water than grasses.
Reproduction:
Females reach sexual maturity at approximately 1 year of age. Males take twice as long to mature, reaching reproductive age at 2 years. Springbok live in herds that vary in composition throughout the breeding season. During mating time, males maintain a territorial group of females, which they resolutely protect. Separate bachelor herds of up to 50 young, old, and those males losing out to dominant males also occur during the mating season. A maternity group composed of females, their young and a few dominant males occur during birthing time.
Due to the variation in yearly dry seasons in the arid regions of the springbok's range, springbok are flexible in their breeding seasons. They normally mate during the early dry season, and give birth about 5.5 - 6 months later during the beginning of the rainy season. A single offspring is usually born. Females reproduce approximately every two years. Young are weaned six months to a year after birth. The mother hides her (single) newborn offspring in bush or long grass, and for a day or two it remains still. Females with young lambs tend to form nursery herds; the young then remain together resting while the females graze. Young females remain with the herd, while young males are usually evicted at about six months of age: they then join bachelor herds.
Springbok live up to 9 years in the wild.
Other:
The name springbok comes from the animal’s habit of pronking.
Their main predators are cheetah, leopards and lions.
In times of extended drought, springbok take part in a massive migration known as “trekbokken” or “treks.” In the past, herds of over 1 million springbok would move in mass outside their normal range in search of food and water. Over the years, however, herds have been greatly reduced by hunting for their meat and because of the damage they cause to crop lands during their trek. Today in the Republic of South Africa, treks are an event of the past, because springbok are primarily confined to private farms, parks and game reserves. In remote areas of Angola and Botswana, however, groups of up to 1,500 individuals can occasionally be seen making the trekbokken.
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