After spending the last couple of days talking about African birds, I figured we would switch it up a bit and learn about an interesting African mammal.  By looking at the above picture you may think we are going to talk about the antelope. This is almost correct but the Kudu is actually a sub-species of antelope.  There are two types of Kudu, we have the Greater and the Lesser Kudu. In this post I will just talk about the general characteristics of the entire sub-species.

The kudu is a herbivore that spends much of its time eating leaves from various trees and bushes.  These peaceful herbivores have several predators including lions, cheetahs, leopards and wild dogs.  What can I say? Southern Africa can be a dangerous place for a kudu. In order to survive the kudu usually hangs out close to woodlands.  These agile animals stand a much better chance in the dense forest then they do on the open plains.  They can usually out maneuver their predator in the bush and will eventually hide until the hungry carnivore gives up.   The fancy markings and colouring of the kudu provides excellent camouflage making them very difficult to spot.

The kudu can usually be found in groups of twenty-four, with the group consisting mostly of females and calves.  The males are generally solitary only coming to form groups during mating season. I guess it is sort of like a bunch of guys getting together for a bachelor party before the wedding.  Although when two of these males don’t see eye to eye it will result in your typical display of dominance which could end up with the two males locking horns and pulling back on each other.  It is for this exact reason that the necks of the males kudu become enlarged during mating season.  I wonder if they start taking steroids and hitting the gym prior to the rut?

Well that is all for today folks!  I hope you enjoyed the fact.