Duikers

Grey (common) duiker: Sylvicapra grimmia

• Adult males - 500 mm standing at shoulder height, mass of between 15-18 kgs.
• Adult females - 520 mm standing at shoulder height, mass of between 16-21 kgs.
• Only the males have the short straight horns.
• Usually solitary by nature.
• Specialist feeders, the diet consists of leaves, twigs, flowers, fruits, and seeds of a wide variety of plants and shrubs.
• Produce single young at birth.
• Gestation period is about 191 days (seven months)
• Distribution – wide, found throughout the subregion.
• Spoor - 38 mm in length.

Red duiker: Cephalophus natalensis

• The red duiker is smaller than the grey duiker.
• Adult - 420 mm standing at shoulder height, mass of about 12 kgs.
• Usually solitary by nature.
• Shy and secretive.
• An extreme concentrate selective feeder, feeding on fallen leaves, flowers, wild fruits, and low-level stems.
• Both male and female carry a pair of short, straight horns.
• Distribution – essentially the eastern coastal plain, with an isolated population in the Soutpansberg range of northern South Africa. It occurs as far north as southern Sudan and Somalia.
• Spoor - 30 mm in length

Blue duiker: Philantomba monticola

• The blue duiker is the smallest antelope that occurs in southern Africa.
• Adult males - 300 mm standing at shoulder height, mass of about 4 kgs.
• Adult females - slightly larger than the males, a mass of about 4,6 kgs.
• Both males and females carry a pair of short, straight horns.
• Commonly live in pairs.
• Feeds mainly on fallen leaves, fruits, and flowers, and occasionally browses on forbs and shrubs.
• Distribution - apart from populations in Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe, the blue duiker is only found in South Africa along a narrow coastal belt from George in the Western Cape to southern KwaZulu-Natal. It occurs widely in central and equatorial Africa and there are pockets of populations in East Africa.
• Spoor - 24 mm in length.