The Antelope range of beauties - Sitatunga

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The sitatunga or marshbuck (Tragelaphus spekii) is a semi acquatic swamp-dwelling-antelope. Sitatungas are still found in small numbers in Saiwa Swamp National Park in Western Kenya as well as in larger populations around Lake Victoria, the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, and in several river basins in Uganda.

Being semi­aquatic it is a good swimmer, and so spe­cial­ized that it oc­curs only in swamps or per­ma­nent marshes. Par­tial to pa­pyrus and phrag­mites within swamps, it may also occur in wet­lands dom­i­nated by bull­rushes, reeds, and sedges. They fre­quent the deep­est parts of the swamp

The sitatunga is semiaquatic, and so specialized that it occurs only in swamps or permanent marshes. Partial to papyrus and phragmites within swamps, it may also occur in wetlands dominated by bullrushes, reeds, and sedges. They frequent the deepest parts of the swamp

The sitatunga is semiaquatic, and so specialized that it occurs only in swamps or permanent marshes. Partial to papyrus and phragmites within swamps, it may also occur in wetlands dominated by bullrushes, reeds, and sedges. They frequent the deepest parts of the swamp

The sitatunga is semiaquatic, and so specialized that it occurs only in swamps or permanent marshes. Partial to papyrus and phragmites within swamps, it may also occur in wetlands dominated by bullrushes, reeds, and sedges. They frequent the deepest parts of the swamp

The sitatunga is semiaquatic, and so specialized that it occurs only in swamps or permanent marshes. Partial to papyrus and phragmites within swamps, it may also occur in wetlands dominated by bullrushes, reeds, and sedges. They frequent the deepest parts of the swamp

Several subspecies are recognized based on coloration, with those in the north being more distinctly marked than the southern forms. Males are gray-brown to choco­late-brown, fe­males are brown to bright chest­nut, and calves are bright ru­fous-red, woolly coated, spot­ted, and striped. Adults are long coated and have char­ac­ter­is­tic whiteish marks on the face, ears, cheeks, body, legs, and feet.It ex­hibits great elon­ga­tion of the hooves, which have a wide splay and naked pad­like pat­tern.

They pos­sess unique flex­i­bil­ity of the joints at the feet, rep­re­sent­ing struc­tural adap­ta­tions for walk­ing on boggy and marshy ground.They have been known to submerge themselves completely underwater, with only their nostrils above the waterline.

Pathways are sometimes forged through the reeds, which are often used by hunters to set snares. Males are con­sid­er­ably larger than fe­males (100 cm tall vs. 75-90 cm tall). Males pos­sess horns rang­ing in length from 508-924 mm. Horns are char­ac­ter­ized by two twists and are ivory tipped. .

Breed­ing oc­curs through­out the year, males are polygamous, and fe­males pro­duce a sin­gle young .The mean ges­ta­tion pe­riod is 247 days, and sex­ual ma­tu­rity is at­tained at ap­prox­i­mately 1 yr. by fe­males and 1.5 yrs. by males.

A male ap­proaches a fe­male in a low stretch pos­ture while the fe­male may back away slowly. When the male comes within a few inches of the fe­male, she may sud­denly bound away, caus­ing con­sid­er­able com­mo­tion in the swamp. The male per­sis­tently fol­lows, but al­ways stays be­hind. It is char­ac­ter­is­tic of this species that the male lay his head and neck on the fe­male's back and lifts his forelegs off the ground in a mount­ing at­tempt.

The fe­male re­sponds with neck wind­ing, in which her neck an­gles down obliquely and her head turns sharply up, thrust­ing for­ward, up­ward and back with mouth wide open. The male then mounts with his head rest­ing on her back, and her head and neck point for­ward and down.Fe­males hide their calves on plat­forms in se­cluded dry reeds grow­ing in deep water.

While sitatunga are both nocturnal and diurnal, they are most active at dawn and dusk, and may move onto marshy land at night.  Males have a loud, barking vocalization.

Family group: Singly or in small, all-female groups.
Diet: Leaves, buds, shoots, fruit, reeds, and grasses.
Main Predators: Leopards, lions, pythons