Tag: horns

Moustache

The greater kudu of South Africa has tawny-brown to grey-brown coats with distinctive white stripes running down on its flanks. They have a white V-shaped band across the eyes and forehead with white spots on their cheeks. There are strong physical differences between males and females. The males grow long, spiral horns that can reach up to 1,8 m in length. The kudu bull’s horns reach full length at the age of six years old, and males are significantly larger than females. Bulls can weigh as much as 300 kg with a shoulder height of 1.4 m and cows weigh 210 kg with a shoulder height of 1.25 m. Kudu has long manes of hair that run on its back from head to tail and along the lower neck to the underbelly. A kudu herd tends to split up into two sub-groups. Young females remain with their mothers, while sexually mature males around the age of two years old form bachelor groups. Kudu males will join the female herds during mating season. No territorial spacing exists amongst bulls, but as they show age in their physical appearance, they have size-graded dominant hierarchies.
Info source: http://southafrica.co.za/kudu.html

Moustache

Picture of the day, Wildlife

Nibble

The Nyala is a highly selective, mixed feeder taking in large quantities of grass, forbs and browse (grass contributes 12-30% of its dietary intake). They prefer the fruit, pods and flowers of broadleaf forbs and eat only soft, green new-growth grass tufts (dry leaves and stems are avoided completely). Nyala is dependent on fresh water and an adult will drink an average of 3.5 litres daily. Nyala thrives in the thicket, closed woodland, riverine bush and forest habitats. They require abundant shade, cover for refuge, a constant supply of fresh drinking water and a large variety of broadleaf forb species to browse. The ideal habitat comprises a 4-23cm sweet grass layer, a minimum of 15% thicket and should be no less than 60 ha in size – nyala spends 70-90% of its life in the thicket and become nocturnal in environments lacking in this foliage component. Nyala cannot survive in areas with temperatures lower than -2°C or rainfall of less than 300mm.
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The photo was taken during September 2017 in the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Info source: http://westacresvet.co.za/farming-with-nyala-a-few-things-…/

Nibble

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Old-timers

As buffalo get older and their reproduction peaks pass males will often be chased from the larger herds and are often found in small groups or on their own. These animals then get the nickname Dagha boys. Dagha is the Zulu name for mud and refers to the buffalo spending a lot of their past time in mud wallows. Buffalo are very easily recognizable on a game drive as they are a large ox-like looking animal with very large bossed horns. Buffalo are dimorphic which means there is little difference between the male and the female. Male buffalo are often covered in mud and their bosses met in the middle of their head to form a helmet-like structure on the head. Younger bulls often still have hairs on their horns.
Info source: https://hluhluwegamereserve.com/african-big-5/cape-buffalo/

Old-timers

Picture of the day, Wildlife