Waterbuck

The Waterbuck is an antelope found in Western, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa.

The shaggy, coarse coat is reddish brown to grizzled grey in colour, darkening with age.  Facial markings are composed of a white muzzle, lighter eyebrows and insides of the ears, while there is a cream-coloured ‘bib’ on the throat.  The most conspicuous feature of this antelope is a large white ‘halo’ or hollow ring which surrounds the base of the tail on the rump.

The body is heavyset, and the strong legs are black in colour.  The heavily ridged horns are found only in males and sweep in an arc backwards and upwards, with the tips pointing forwards.  They grow 55-100 cm / 1.6-3.3 feet long.

As it name would suggest, the waterbuck is a good swimmer and flees into water if pursued, although it is reported that they do not actually like going into water.

At 7-9 months, males are driven from their maternal family and join up with a bachelor herd.  These groups have a distinct social hierarchy based on size and strength, and contests are frequent.  Around 6-7 years, males become territorial, staking out areas of 150-625 acres and defending them against mature rivals with posturing and fights.

These territories are maintained throughout the year, and a male is generally overthrown before he reaches 10 years of age.  Only about 5-10 % of mature males are territorial at the same time.  Female groups wander over a home range of 200-600 hectares, which may be kept for up to 8 years and encompasses several male territories.