Waterbuck
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| Waterbuck Conservation status: Lower risk (cd) | ||||||||||||||||
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 Female Waterbuck | ||||||||||||||||
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| Kobus ellipsiprymnus (Ogilby, 1833) |
The Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) is an antelope found in Western, Central Africa and Southern Africa.
Waterbuck stand 190 to 210 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh from 160 to 240 kilograms. Their coats are reddish brown in colour and become progressively darker with age; they also have a white 'bib' under their throats and a white ring on their rumps surrounding their tails. The long spiral structured horns sweep back and up, they are found only in males.
Waterbuck are found in scrub and savannah areas near water where they eat grass. Despite their name it seems that Waterbuck do not like to enter the water. Waterbuck are diurnal. Females gather in herds of between two and six hundred individuals. Males keep territories of around three hundred acres (1.2 km²) during their prime. They usually lose their territories before the age of ten.
The Defassa Waterbuck is a subspecies (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) in which the ring on the rump is solid white.
Defassa_waterbuck01.JPG
Female DeFassa Waterbuck, Kafue, Zambia