Showing 21 to 30 of 84 blog articles.
LOZIBA! THAKA VALLEY.. BLACK RHINO REWILDING

Right in the heart of Zululand Northern Natal, is a place of breath-taking outstanding natural beauty, where an ambitious project is taking shape to rewild the area and create a conservancy. The conservancy will include resident elephants, communities and private game reserves. Ultimately it will offer a haven for the critically endangered Black Rhino.
In 2018 Thaka Valley rural farmers and Mawana Reserve reached out for assistance with human elephant conflict. A small team led by Grant Fowlds of Project Rhino spent 6 hours searching for the elephants by helicopter, luckily the elephants had moved on. Grant began surveying this valley and concluded that establishing a conservancy here would be a successful partnership for the communities, the animals, and the landowners.
This is truly a project that needs to succeed and cannot be written in a short story…
Consisting of 37 various reserves/farms the valley targeted is around 100,000 hectares of which Loziba could encompass 20,000 hectares in phase one and 40,000 hectares or more in staggered inclusions and be part of the Thaka Valley Communal Wild Conservancy (CWC). The area is lush with a wide variety of flora and fauna, large koppies and majestic flat-topped mountains. Endless grassland plains are supplied with abundant water flowing from two rivers, and various waterfalls. Further down the Thaka Valley there are eternal hot water springs and pools of luscious green mineral mud. It is truly a spectacular wonder.
According to local folklore this was the bathing area of King Shaka the legendary Zulu King.
The mighty Black Umfolozi winds itself through the valley and fills it with life, some parts wild and bubbling, others narrow and calm. The Hlonyani River crosses through and has impressive breathtaking areas of wide flat rocks on different levels, creating a bounty of pools and natural water features.
Culturally the Valley is rich with history. Many small communities lie dotted around the Koppies in the same areas of their ancestors. Situated high up on the slopes and tops, this enabled communities to see enemies approaching and sight herds of game. Today they live and farm corps such as mielies here. The impressive flat topped mountain known as Isihlalo Kashaka is said to have been the place King Shaka surveyed his kingdom from.
35 elephants live here and it is their home, unfortunately much of the fencing is broken, so the elephants are roaming out of the area and communities conflict with them. In a combined effort, 5 of these elephants where collared to enable them to be monitored daily via satellite. Tragically two years ago, during an attempt to herd a young raiding bull away from the community, Beyers Coetzee lost his life. A memorial to this great man by sculptor Andres Botha sits was erected at the site. He was a huge part of Loziba and this project will honour his legacy and love of the wild.
The urgent funding for the first phase of Loziba is vital to the elephants safety by restoring the fences on one of the reserves, which will prevent them from entering the communities crops.
There are over 7000 head of game here which include both brown and spotted hyena, leopards, giraffes, rooikat, servals, zebras, waterbuck, rooi hartebeest, reedbuck, warthog, and an amazing array of snakes including the African python. Baboons and vervets call this their home too. An array of birds including the secretary bird and our vulnerable vulture..
I observed many giraffes and noted the young bulls have more muscular legs, larger ossicones and are thicker set than their Kruger cousins. Their hides are glossy in the sun. While Grant and I drove up one steep path I was entranced by a young bull as he cantered gracefully all the way in front of us before disappearing into the Acacia.
The African Thorn Bush – Acacia - which is the most recognizable and iconic tree of Africa, is bountiful here and certain areas have perfect vegetation for Black Rhino...
On a hike up one of the flat-topped mountains where the team was spread out, I literally collided into a large herd of zebra who raced away up a huge grass escarpment that swept up towards the sky in a large spoon shape. From the other side it would have been one of the flat top mountains we had driven around on a previous day and gazed up at the sheer scale of the cliff. Now here we were on the wide flat plain at the top. This left me breathless and I will never forget crossing the flat yellow veld grass and gazing over the cliffs at the incredible vast plains below.
It was here that I looked up and right there in the sky for a moment - a cloud formation - a Rhino. See my photo of the cloud. Thaka Valley once was the home of the Black Rhino. Their spirit is strong here and tangible in the land that bore them.
It is vital for the Black Rhino to bring them back here.
The closest natural historic range where these iconic critically endangered animals live is the Hluluwe Umfolozi Park.
This valley was also the historic hunting grounds of the Zulu Kingdom, and perhaps all these elements meeting here is why they chose this place. It is a whole eco system. A world on its own. A truly African Eden.
Many visionary minds have mapped and researched here for this project. Thousands of hours of planning, building relationships with reserve owners and communities. Time has been invested in the education of the community and showing them how they can benefit from the conservation of endangered species.
A tree planting project is also already employing 8 people.
Loziba ,as its planned will be a gamechanger for the black rhino and will include all the “Big 5”. A first phase size of 10, 000 hectares will be the core sanctuary area for endangered species, the black rhino, white rhino, elephant, giraffe and Lion. In the next phase it hopes to reach 33,000 to 40,000 hectares. Adding to this will be areas allocated for various luxurious lodges, budget lodges, and could include regeneration of the incredible Thangami Spa where the hot springs are eternal even during drought. The whole Thaka Valley is an eco-tourists dream, with endless mountain biking, hiking, game viewing and wild camping. Rafting and river walking on parts of the Black Umfolozi are in my sights.
This Short Story…
We had large bonfires at night, normally Sundowners with a fire on a Koppie to see the red African sun, as it set over the Mawana Mountain, and then back to our lodge, where we sat around the fire, talking and laughing, surrounded by the barking of Hyena, and a galaxy of stars…
We had some serious driving testing skills and glad to say all vehicles where undamaged and no one was injured!
We ate delicious Puto Pap (wonderful local African meal made from maize enjoyed across all our cultures) and meat braaied by Kallie..
As a gesture to kickstart investment many thanks go to Mr John Charter of Human Elephant Foundation, the recently formed US based Truwild and three philanthropists who purchased farm Zoekmij.
Soon to be introduced will be a donation effort where you can “own” your piece of Loziba.
Grant Fowlds of Loziba and Project Rhino, James Arnott of CWC Africa and of Loziba, David White CEO of DRG Outsourcing, John Charter of Human Elephant Foundation and myself were hosted by Karel “Kallie" De Walt of Mawana.
Please join us to rewild the land here. The time is crucial to our endangered species.
Spread the word and buy that hectare to help Save the Rhino.
See Loziba website for more information https://www.loziba.com
CWC Africa Projects https://cwcafricaprojects.com
See the MOJO Streaming interview here.
Please feel free to comment here and share or message me directly.
LONG LIVE LOZIBA!
*Reference words
Koppie: An Afrikaans word for a small hill rising from the veld.
Veld: Afrikaans word for field
Meilie: Afrikaans word for corn

  10 months ago
The Shooting Trap Part 2 - That’s Debateable






The Negative, which is positive
Key animals are targeted for qualities 
Often in their breeding prime
No head shots, can’t damage the goods
Commodities worth tens of thousands
That’s what animals are, but absolutely are not
It is outside of the ‘Arc of the moral universe’ MLK
Ethics have been excised, morals allowed to decay
Here’s where the real debate lies
Is hunting for conservation moral and ethical?
You can’t ask that, it’s not transactional
You can’t bank on it, can’t raise an invoice
Can’t raise $50,000 for a Lion’s life
Matching dollars for its stuffed head
If you can get it home, get it mounted
If you ask if this is right, the answer can’t be wrong!
Governments, and organisations and locals
Can’t afford that question, or the money will dry up
Coffers as dry as a waterhole in an African drought
No life-giving waters for living creatures
And creatures trying to make a living, by killing
Allowing killing, auctioning killing - highest bidding
Any animal you like, endangered or no
Just ask the 11 Critically Endangered Black Rhinos
South Africa is about to make a killing from their killing
And the money goes to…conservation - of Black Rhinos?!
Too late to ask the the two Tuskers of only 24 - now 22 to bring down
Moral bankruptcy will not stave off fiscal
First argument: it’s morally bankrupt 
Secondary: it’s not transactional in an ethical vacuum 
(like so much business as usual)
Second argument: Is it sanguine to indulge blood-lust?
The Joy of Killing - ‘Recreational Hunting’
Admittedly, sounds better than ‘Trophy’ says Nordic philosophy
Seeking a great white hope, inflowing currency 
Facilitating murderous intent, kill an animal
For reasons most can’t comprehend
Pose for a smiling pic, latest conquest
Even hold up a giraffe’s now not beating heart
Desperately seeking to kill, to show off a trophy
A head, a heart, an elephant’s foot ash tray
To adorn a grotesque mausoleum AKA living room 
All of this transactional, they showed you the money
To take it makes one complicit, in league 
Blood money maker, blood money taker
One needs the other to stain hands
Blood money drip-feeds down, to the ground
But hardly any, for the local enablers
Circles back to the search for a remedy
A way to pay locals for animals conserved
On the ground sentinels and Rangers 
Used to be called conservation, proper usage of language
Last argument: use the right words
Next…

  11 months ago
The Shooting Trap Part 1.


A Shoot!
Grab your guns! Time for fun!
Don’t get over excited
Only a debate, like a Trap Shoot
Nothing live to shoot
Although that is the subject
Have gun, must shoot
Something
Clay pigeon arguments! Disappointed!

Pull!
A great debate
Hunting for conservation, not verses
Let your arguments fly
We’ll need to follow closely
Get it in our sights, as it speeds by
Fast response, must recognise the target
Well it may fly but gravity will bring it down
Those that are missed, still damaging
If not shot down - in flames is better

Two teams
Affirmative
Hunting is needed for conservation
Negative
How can it be?
Affirmation of killing goes first

Pull!
Their argument flies
Conservation is expensive
How shall we be funded, well may we ask
Agreeing, the Negative lets it by

Pull!
Less dangerous animals, less retaliation
Those that live with risk know
We’re not stalked on the ground
Too, let this argument go
No discharge

Pull!
Not mostly endangered animals, little impact
Plenty of ungulates, need regulating
Less pressure on habitats
A half-hearted shot is taken
Still not the right target

Pull!
Incentives for the local populations
Supposedly benefit as the money filters down
Works out at some cents, makes no sense
Incentivises to open up country for hunting
Protects more land than in Parks, apparently
Figures are dodgy, the clay pigeon goes wobbly
This one is hit, shatters in a puff of powdered clay
Blown out of the sky, dust trailing
Already 1.3 million square kms
Are open to Trophy Hunting
This would add more!
Adds up to more killing
Can’t equal more conservation 

Still, not a good score for the negative
But are they in the right debate?
Both sides seeking alternatives kinder
(The hunters are not in this particular debate)
Conservation needs resourcing, not debatable
It’s the arguments that were not stated
That’s where the real problem is slated
‘Show me the money’ science doesn’t sit well 
The refutation shots are loaded
For a game-changer
And for the recriminations?

Part 2. That’s Debatable (coming soon)

A.E. Lovell
TheOneMillionPoetry.com (launching in April)

  11 months ago
WHAT ABOUT THE TALLEST MAMMAL ON PLANET.

Sexual maturity of the female is at 48-60 months, the male is at 42 months. The giraffe mate at any time of the year with the gestation period being between 453 - 464 days. There is usually only one calf, very rarely twins. A giraffe cow in season attracts males from all around, but is soon won by a dominant bull. The male signals his readiness to mate by tapping on the female's hind leg with his foreleg or resting his chin on her back. He usually follows her, sometimes for hours, until she allows him to mount her

Giraffes don't have a set mating season. Instead they have an estrous cycle, which is a lot like the human menstrual cycle (but with less blood and slightly different hormones). The male giraffes don't just mate with the ladies all the time, so they generally try to find a way to determine is the lady is fertile.www.interiorsafarisea.com 

  1 year ago
Chlorocebus pygerythrus

FUN FACTS FRIDAY- VERVET MONKEY 


1. They spend almost their entire life on the trees (arboreal animal). They are proficient climbers and jumpers.


2. They are omnivores (they eat both plants and meat). Their diet is based on leaves, buds, shoots, flowers, fruit, roots, insects, eggs, grubs and small birds.


3. They usually breed from April to June. Pregnancy in females lasts 165 days and ends with one baby.


4. They communicate through sounds and body language. A raising eyebrow is meant to be a threat to others in the troop. There are also vocalizations like crying and barking to signal different information. Wanting calls are used by mothers to attract infants while chattering signals irritation or aggression. 


5. During mating season the males testicles turn bright blue, a flamboyant show to suggest their suitability as a mate.

If you want to learn more about this animal,Contact Godfreytheguide for more information. 

WhatsApp/ call - +256773127086

  1 year ago
The debate over whether Trophy Hunting is a necessary option in wildlife conservation:

The debate over whether Trophy Hunting is a necessary option in wildlife conservation: 


One side will assume that trophy hunting has already played a role in conservation and should be considered a sustainable tool to conserve wildlife.


The opposing view is dead set against trophy hunting utilized in wildlife conservation. That perspective is gaining momentum as trophy hunters post gruesome selfies with slain animals to social media.


This is your chance to voice your opinion.

We are also giving a wildlife art piece to one lucky person attending the debate


Join MojoStreaming live on February 26, 2022, at 4:30 P.M United Kingdom Time (11:30 A.M. EST, 9:30 A.M. PST)* for this long-overdue debate.


Journalist Katherine Mozzone will moderate the discussion between MojoStreaming's distinguished guests:


Will Travers is a director, writer, broadcaster, animal rights activist. He is the President of the Born Free Foundation 

 

Dr. Dilys Roe is the Chairperson of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group (SULi), and leads biodiversity research at the International Institute for Environment and Development.


Tickets will go on sale for this live online event beginning February 21, 2022, 8:00 A.M. Est.


The link can be purchased online in the Mojostreaming store by clicking on the Event Category box and purchased up until the day of the event. 


Mojostreaming will host the event on Zoom Meeting, which you can join on your computer or mobile app by clicking on the purchased link.  


* purchase your ticket in advance as space may fill up


* Please check the time zone in your area at https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter




Login or Sign up then purchase your ticket here: https://www.mojostreaming.com/details/ticket-to-debate

  1 year ago
Letter in response to the Guardian in regard to article about Trophy Hunting Legislation

By Claudiu PopaCISSP CIPP PMP CISA CRISC. Chairman and Co-Founder, The Knowledge Flow Cyber Safety Foundation

I have submitted a letter to the editor of the Guardian in response to the following article which reports on an open letter signed by a group of "leading Scientists and Conservationists". (see link below) The letter attacks what the writer has termed "poorly conceived hunting legislation":

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/13/poorly-conceived-trophy-hunting-bill-puts-wildlife-at-risk-uk-government-told-aoe

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/13/poorly-conceived-trophy-hunting-bill-puts-wildlife-at-risk-uk-government-told

A proposed UK ban on trophy hunting imports risks undermining the conservation of rhinos, elephants and other endangered wildlife, according to a group of leading scientists and conservationists who said African perspectives have been ignored by the government.

On Friday, MPs will vote on a private member’s bill to ban trophy hunting imports while, separately, the government is preparing legislation to ban hunting trophies from thousands of species, including lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and polar bears.

In an open letter seen by the Guardian and signed by more than 100 scientists, conservationists and African community leaders, the group said the ban is poorly conceived and threatens to reverse conservation gains and undermine the livelihoods of rural communities across sub-Saharan African.

It urged the UK government to implement a smart ban that incentivises good practice by prohibiting trophies from “canned” hunting operations, where captive-bred animals are shot at close range, or those that fail to share revenues with local communities.

By allowing trophy hunting to continue within the UK, where hunters can pay thousands of pounds to shoot deer, the group said the government was opening itself up to accusations of hypocrisy by banning imports from countries with impressive conservation records such as Namibia and Botswana, where trophy hunting is used to fund conservation.

“We understand (and many of us share) the public’s instinctive dislike of trophy hunting. However, the reality is that no alternative land use has yet been developed which equally protects the wildlife and habitats found in these vital landscapes while also generating valuable revenues for local communities. Indeed, where trophy hunting has been subjected to bans, wildlife has often suffered, and conflict with communities has increased,” the letter states.

“This is not to claim that trophy hunting is perfect. It is beset with a variety of problems, including but not limited to the inequitable sharing of hunting revenues, inappropriate or poorly observed quotas, corruption and inadequate regulation. But tourism is not a perfect industry either,” it continues.

Signatories include the heads of leading conservation NGOs such as Save the Rhino International, academics from the University of Oxford and African community leaders.

The IUCN, which oversees the red list of endangered species, established that trophy hunting has supported the conservation of several species, including rhinos, African elephants and markhors, the national animal of Pakistan, and a UN report said that trophy hunting is helping to protect millions of acres of wildlife habitat in sub-Saharan Africa. Community leaders have previously criticised British celebrities for calling for a ban on trophy hunting, naming Ricky Gervais, Joanna Lumley and Piers Morgan in July 2020.

Supporters of the trophy hunting import ban argue it will help protect endangered species and end a cruel practice. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, has called trophy hunting a “disgusting trade” and his father, Stanley, has campaigned in favour of the ban.

But Leslé Jansen, CEO of the NGO Resource Africa, who signed the letter, said the legislation will harm conservation and African livelihoods and undermine the rights of rural communities to use their natural resources.

Supporters of the ban say it will help protect endangered species as well as ending a cruel practice. Photograph: Johnny Armstead/Alamy

“We have voiced these concerns many times, and have attempted to engage in the process. Why are Africans’ rights, views and conservation successes continually ignored?” she said.

Dr Rodgers Lubilo, chairman of a community leaders network covering Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, called on the government to reconsider the proposed legislation.

“We have time and again told our international friends that trophy hunting is part of local rural livelihoods, and we will continue to pursue sustainable use of wildlife for generations to come,” he said.

Dr Amy Dickman, a professor of conservation at Oxford University who signed the letter, said: “We shouldn’t base policy on what comedians and celebrities think. We should be basing it on expertise and on local opinion. Those are the two things that count the most.

“Ricky Gervais has 14 million followers on Twitter, whereas the African Community Leaders Network, when they post about this, tend to get zero engagement. The people most affected have the smallest platforms,” she said.

A Defra spokesperson said: “We are bringing forward ambitious legislation to ban the import of hunting trophies from thousands of species.

“This will be one of the toughest bans in the world, and goes beyond our manifesto commitment, meaning we will be leading the way in protecting endangered animals and helping to strengthen and support long-term conservation.”

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features

.

What a spectacular rejection of common decency it must have taken for this clique of "scientists and conservationists" to sign a letter in favor of cruelty to animals!

The hyperbolic claims of a group of misguided officials and corrupt functionaries even managed to bamboozle "African community leaders", striping their people of dignity and respect in the rich tradition of neo-colonialism and greed.

 

From the disgraceful distortion of local people's interests to the shameless public pandering for undeserved pity, to lobbying the UK government in favour of commercial interests (read: safari hunters, whose definition of 'conservation' is an offensive aberration designed to confuse the public about the differences between industrial-scale poaching, bushmeat hunting, subsistence hunting, defensive hunting, trophy hunting and regulated hunting), this is all sadly reminiscent of the situation that describes the embarrassing Canadian seal hunt, whose persistence in spite of all rational argument is a testament to the influence of histrionic appeals to authorities.

 

For these 100 signatories to stoop so low as to relinquish all claims to professional integrity and use misdirection by suggesting that the real opponents here are comedians and celebrities instead of human dignity and basic animal rights, is to irreversibly abandon any claim to respectability and credibility. The world's effort to criminalize trophy hunting has been described as "poorly conceived", but a doctrine of sadism could indeed only be concocted by those who have in fact been "poorly conceived". If the supporters of such carnage are indeed endowed with professional qualifications, their calls to stop resisting and just embrace the killing categorically disqualify them from taking part in any exercise requiring critical thinking, let alone patronizing the public on behalf of private interests.

 

This ragtag posse of incentivized individuals claims moral authority, a warrant, a mandate to tell people they are wrong in protecting innocent fauna from psychopaths based solely on non-founded claims and shockingly contrived affirmations. Obnoxious and toxic claims that the first world's "corruption by abundance" and "suburban comforts" act as a distorting lens on the real pleas of animals - like Cecil the Lion, who apparently had it coming - and should be extinguished for sport so that so many others can hope be spared by the insatiable demand fueled by trophy buyers. Lest we forget the silent plea of the impotent foreign millionaire with delusional aspirations of "keeping the yang up" with powdered tusk, leopard claw, tiger bone, rhino horn and liquefied ivory. Such misinformation and conspiratorial thinking leads to countless human crimes against decency, from the very visible rhino and elephant hunts to the silent tragedies of sharks and seahorses, but apathy and the bystander effect play as much of a role as the crime itself. Belittling people with childish and romantic accusations of anthropomorphizing animals is not going to eliminate the common sense reality that trophy hunting is about satisfying the base instincts of sad, broken people who need to kill or amass the proceeds of slaughter. No son of Trump's will ever convincingly make a rational point, least of to claim that by cowardly brandishing the severed tail of a slaughtered elephant he was in fact the courageous savior of a defenseless African village. Trophy hunting and poaching are neither about defense nor subsistence hunting. It's not about anecdotal criminal activity but about legitimizing large scale, recreational killing with the complicity of authorities that turn a blind eye to the suffering of creatures genetically similar to their abusers. Using local farmers and starving populations as negotiating pawns in the argument that an illegal market is unsustainable is bunk because such a market reduces the surface measurably as opposed to opening it up immeasurably. For rational beings to side with criminals by saying that it is best to embrace their practices than to suffer at their hands is pure nonsense, but it has a long tradition in the colonialist mindset.

 

Few things can make me blacklist an animal conservation charity, but the use of fear, uncertainty and doubt to deceive and bully the public into supporting the morally bankrupt, "shoot to conserve" mindset is indeed an affront to the most basic sensibilities of any thinking person. Not that anyone will care, but I had the regretful task of removing two groups from my list of supported organizations (on ClaudiuPopa.ca/personal) which, at the risk of coming across as a feeble attempt at breathless virtue signaling, is simply my personal resignation to the reality that we all need to get involved, contribute and a reminder to consistently do our due diligence.

 

Claudiu Popa

Toronto, Canada

January 2022

  1 year ago
Panel Discussion on Wolves in Scandinavia

KA

Katherine Mozzone, MojoStreaming's host, is holding a panel discussion tomorrow with 3 panelists about the slaughter of wolves in Scandinavia. The discussion will take place tomorrow, Friday Jan 21st at 1pm EST. There is one panelist from each of the affected countries. From Sweden we have Eva Stjernswärd, from Norway we have Susanne Maria Dörfler, and from Finland we have Nina Harju. 

Please try and attend. Whether you can or can't, please share the link with your entire network - social media, friends, family. We will not be able to advertise this on Facebook like we normally do. They have barred MojoStreaming from advertising hunting topics.

BERNARD VAN SPEYK is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: MojoStreaming Panel Discussion Re: Wolf Hunts
Time: Jan 21, 2022 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88584892973?pwd=bVovZUZxbmEvY25zcUtnQURsZzE5QT09

Meeting ID: 885 8489 2973
Passcode: 712551

Times of the discussion are as follows:
EST, Toronto, New York : 1PM
PST, Vancouver. LA, San Francisco: 10AM
Sweden, Norway: 7PM
Finland: 8PM
UK: 6PM
South Africa : 8PM
For area out of these time Zones, please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

  1 year ago
Chake Conservancy Masai Mara.

Chake rangers ready for the bush patrols.
Who is ready to support them stay in the bush for snare removal, poachers tracking?
We need more tents, sleeping bags and boots.
Due to a big drought in Kenya which has been experienced for the last few months ago, people been going without food due to scarcity of food, vegetables and water. Poachers has moved to the game reserves and in animal dispersal areas to set snare traps for bush meat. We as Chake conservancy has planned a two weeks patrol in the bush to look for poachers and snare removal. We're requesting animal lovers and those interested in supporting the wildlife protection to join us and help such facilitations.
We're checking out if all things are in order. chakeconservancy.org
Checking our supplies.

  1 year ago
Kobus kob thomasi

The Ugandan kob (Kobus kob thomasi), male,Queen Elizabeth NP, Uganda, 2016.

The Ugandan kob is a subspecies of the kob, a type of antelope. Only the males have horns, which are lyre-shaped, strongly ridged and divergent.

Males are slightly larger than females, being 90 to 100 cm (3.0 to 3.3 ft) at the shoulder, with an average weight of 94 kg (207 lb), while females are 82 to 92 cm (2.7 to 3.0 ft) at the shoulder and on average weigh about 63 kg (139 lb). Apart from the throat patch, muzzle, eye-ring and inner ear, which are white, the coat is golden to reddish-brown, the color differentiating it from other kob subspecies. The belly and inside of the legs are white, and the front of the forelegs are black.

It is typically found in open or wooded savanna, within a reasonable distance of water, and it also occurs in grasslands near rivers and lakes.

Ugandan kobs are herbivores and feed largely on grasses and reeds.

The females and young males form loose groups of varying size which range according to food availability, often moving along watercourses and grazing in valley bottoms. Sometimes non-breeding males form their own groups. Ugandan kobs usually have a lek mating system, in which males defend small territories clustered on traditional mating grounds. Females visit these leks only to breed, and males provide no parental care. Each lek is associated with a female herd of about 100 individuals. Females begin to mate at the age of one, but males must normally wait for several more years. A single calf is born in November or December, after a gestation period of about nine months.

Ugandan kob appears on the coat of arms of Uganda. #Godfreytheguide #Uganda #Animals #Antelope.

www.interiorsafarisea.com

  1 year ago