CAPE GRYSBUCK

Raphicerus melanotis

SHOULDER HEIGHT : 54 cm

MASS : 10 kg

GESTATION : 210 days

The Cape Grysbok is a small, shy antelope with a thick-set body and a coarse coat of hair. A mingling of white and reddish hair on the back and sides gives this species a grizzled, reddish appearance. Only males have horns which are 60-80 mm in length, with a slight forward curve, standing vertical on the head.

Single lambs are born any time of the year, although lambing tends to peak during spring. Gestation period is seven months. Under ideal conditions females can give birth to two lambs per year. Adults are lighter in colour than newborns. This specie are sexually matured between 18-24 months. The Cape Grysbok is usually solitary, lying up during the heat of day and grazing and browsing at night.  The Sharpe’s Grysbok is similar in appearance and habit, but found in the Lebombo mountain range of north-eastern Mpumalanga and further north. Habituates the southern mountain valleys and scrub-covered flats of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces.

Diet - This is predominantly a browser, and not dependant of free water. Occasionally grazes succulent grass and eats fruit when available.