The Nile Lechwe (Kobus megaceros) are an Endangered ungulate species native to the swamps and marshes of South Sudan and Ethiopia. It is difficult for any protection efforts to succeed or even be put in place as they live in areas of civil and political instability. Due to this hunting and habitat fragmentation continue to threaten the species despite their protection status. And preferring to live close to bodies of water and grazing on aquatic plants, Nile Lechwes are a key prey species for crocodiles. The young also have another specific enemy: warble flies. In the wild those flies can parasitize the calves, leading to relatively high mortality as the fly-larvae feed on tissue under the skin which can cause severe infections leading to the death of their hosts.
Male and female Lechwes are easily distinguished with males being dark brown in colour, their size measuring 160-180 centimeters in length, a shoulder height of around 1 meter, weighing between 90-120 kilos, and large horns that can measure up to 87 centimeters long. Females are much lighter in colour, have no horns, only measure 130-170 centimeters in length, no higher than 85 centimeters at the shoulder, with a weight between 60-90 kilos. As juveniles they look similar other than that the male calves already show horn-development. As male calves age they start to develop their darker coat with the characteristic white patches.
Fun fact: Nile Lechwes are also known as Mrs. Gray's Lechwe, after Maria Emma Gray, the wife of John Edward Gray, a keeper at the British Museum, who also proposed to classify the species as Kobus maria.
