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Buffon’s Kob | LostInCR

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Kob (Kobus kob)

Family: Cattle Family (Bovidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Found in scattered populations across western and central regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, Kob (singular and plural) inhabit flat, open habitats (often grasslands) in close proximity to water, where they feed almost entirely on well-hydrated grasses. While many antelopes are able to survive for extended periods of time without drinking both Kob and the grasses they eat require consistent access to water to survive, and as such herds of Kob undergo seasonal migrations in accordance with seasonal variation in rainfall - as the waterholes and rivers they rely on evaporate during the dry season migratory herds leave drier areas to travel to wetter ones. Migrating Kob herds are led by a large number (potentially thousands) of hornless females (which learn to navigate from their mothers,) while smaller groups made up entirely of horned adult males follow behind the females as they travel towards water. Upon arriving in areas with plentiful water and fresh grass (such as floodplains,) the large migratory herds disperse into several smaller groups; females and their young typically remain in groups of 5-40 while grazing, while adult males will adopt one of two forms of territorial behaviours depending on population density - if a large number of Kob are present at a single site males will establish “leks” made up of numerous small overlapping territories in which every male simultaneously competes for the attention of females, but if the population in the area is relatively small each male will claim a larger territory and will aggressively drive away any other nearby males (which is usually done solely through aggressive displays such as lowering of the horns, although if one male refuses to back away from the other they will slam their heads together and attempt to push their competitor back, typically resulting in the losing party fleeing.) Female Kob locate leks by detecting chemicals in the males’ urine that indicate reproductive maturity, and after a gestation period of around 9 months a female will give birth to a single calf which will stay by her side until reaching maturity between 13 and 18 months later (with males taking longer to reach full maturity than females.) As Kob are reliant on water-rich grazing areas to survive the establishing of farms in these areas has driven them out of parts of their former range, but there are hopes that the establishing of protected sites for the use of migrating Kob and the provision of alternate livelihoods for farmers with which they share their range may mitigate the damage done to their overall population.

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/42330-Kobus-kob